


Three to make a pair

by Evil_Keshi



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Getting Together, M/M, Magnus Bane & Jace Wayland Friendship, Romance, Soldier Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-04-24 18:02:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 47,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14360721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Keshi/pseuds/Evil_Keshi
Summary: Magnus is a good friend and the absolute best roommate in the world, so of course when Jace begs him to pretend to be his boyfriend for his family's 4th of July barbecue, he says yes. Enters Alec, Jace's gorgeous brother. Aaaand Magnus is screwed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited to start this new story, I really hope you'll like it! As I said in a note in _Blue jeans_ , this is a Malec story and there is nothing romantic going on between Magnus and Jace (nor will there be a threesome, just saying!) Enjoy :)

  


Magnus considered himself a good friend. People tended to agree with him on that point: he was a good listener, wouldn't let anyone down, made sure everyone got home safely after their parties, knew how to have fun... Everyone loved him. If he was a good friend, he was also the absolute best roommate. On this matter, Jace agreed, more than anyone.

Fate had decided to pair the two young men for their first year of college and while they had tiptoed around each other at the beginning, trying to get their bearings in this new life of staying in a dorm, a life of independency and dangerous liberty that couldn't win over their need to study, they had quickly bonded. To be perfectly honest, they had bonded around a pack (or two) of beer and in front of reruns of horrendous TV shows and, as they said, the rest was history.

Two years later, they were still rooming together, although not in a college dorm anymore: they had found an apartment not far away from campus, with a rent they could quite easily pay together and with more space than the tiny rooms they used to live in during their first year. They shared the daily chores, Magnus taking the trash out when Jace forgot and Jace doing the dishes when it wasn't his turn whenever his roommate had an early class the next day and _still_ hadn't finished his assignment.

They cooked together, Magnus trying out extravagant recipes while Jace stuck to the classics - and succeeded every time, while his friend's adventurous experiences sometimes ended up in ordering pizza to salvage their dinner. They didn't always get along, of course: they yelled at each other when they left wet towels on the bathroom floor or didn't replace the toilet paper roll, and Magnus drunkenly punched Jace in the face once, when he thought that his roommate was trying to rob him - while he was, in fact, trying to make him climb the stairs to their apartment. Jace got his revenge a few weeks later though, the first and only time Magnus agreed to go on a parkour class with him and ended up with bruises all over his body. Still, neither of them would give up their roommate, not for all the gold in the world.

Their living arrangement was perfect and their friendship was growing stronger and stronger with every day they spent living together. Magnus and Jace knew nearly everything about the other and would do anything, anything at all, to protect their friendship and help each other out. _This_ , however, was a bit... unexpected. Not to mention, a really stupid idea.

"You want me to _what_?!" Magnus gasped, his fork of spaghetti forgotten in front of his open mouth.

"Magnus..." Jace sighed, massaging his temples. "I warned you it was a little... weird."

"A little?" his friend repeated, running a hand through his spiky hair as he took a deep breath. "That's more than a little weird: that's completely crazy! I'm your roommate! Your best friend!"

"I know," Jace said on a soothing tone, "and that's why it has to be you. Don't you realise? You know me like I know you. It's perfect! They will never suspect that we aren't..."

"Dating for real?" Magnus finished his sentence, which earned him a _see-what-I-mean?_ look and an eager nod.

Jace had hit his head, that was the only explanation to this terrible idea: when he'd mentioned he had a favour to ask of Magnus and that it might sound strange, the young man had expected everything but that. Because Jace, Mister _a-hundred-percent-straight_ , wanted them to pretend that they were dating. It sounded like the start of a bad joke.

"Your family knows we're living together," Magnus pointed out, "What am I going to do when we break up - well, pretend to - and they want me to move out of this apartment? Or you?"

Because that was the Plan, with a capital p: Magnus and Jace would pretend to be dating in front of the whole Lightwood family - Jace's adoptive parents and siblings. They would act all lovey-dovey with each other, then have a horrible breakup, one that would forever keep Jace's relatives from bothering him about his love life again. Oh right, because that was where the whole story began: Jace's love life or rather, lack thereof.

Jace was a handsome blond man, a good guy under his tough exterior, and apparently no one had managed to understand that fact so far. His parents worried (why the hell did they even worry? Not like dating was the only option in life, right?) and every time they spoke to each other on the phone, Jace had to face Maryse's questions: _met any girl? No one special? Jace, come on, not even a regular friend with benefits?_ And that was when Jace started to splutter and blush, before hanging up.

He wasn't a prude by any means (being roommates, Magnus could confirm that he had heard more than his fair share of unabashed moans coming from the other bedroom) but talking about it with his mother made him feel... uncomfortable as hell.

She was stubborn though, so she didn't stop asking. And three days ago, when she'd asked with hope in her voice if Jace would show up with someone for the 4th of July barbecue, the fool had said yes. Said he'd met someone good, someone he really liked and who liked him back.

Bullshit. But he had gone and run his big mouth anyway so... Now, Jace was in trouble. He also needed to find a partner, and quickly, so that he could introduce them to his family, then break up and act like his heart was broken beyond repair. In turn, it would ensure that they would leave him alone for the rest of his life and never bother him about his relationship troubles again. Hence why Magnus had still not eaten his spaghetti, busy processing the whole deal and his role in it.

"Look, Magnus," Jace started, "if you don't want to do it, it's fine. I understand. Hell, if you asked _me_ , I'm not sure I would say yes and you know how much I love you. So really: it's fine if you say no."

 _Fine, my ass_ , Magnus thought: Jace's dejected tone didn't make him sound like he would be alright if he got a negative answer and didn't find a partner to go back to his parent's place. In two days.

"I'm not... saying no," he carefully muttered. "I'm just... thinking about it."

"That's not saying yes either!" Jace protested, gesturing wildly with his own fork and incidentally confirming what his friend thought before. "Please, Magnus! I really, really need your help here. Don't bail on me, I said I would come with someone..."

Jace made his best pleading eyes, the ones that made him look quite a bit like Puss in Boots from Shrek. Magnus hated his friend when he did that, all too aware that it worked wonders on him and that he would, inevitably, give in to Jace's most idiotic schemes.

"Give me the details," he said with a resigned sigh, knowing that he had lost already.

Jace's eyes sparkled - Magnus already regretted that he hadn't put his foot down firmly to utter a definitive _no_. He was weak when it came to Jace.

"Easy!" his roommate exclaimed, "You'll have nothing to do except pretend that you're in love with me. Which won't be too hard, come on, what's there not to love in this, uh?"

The young man pointed his fork to himself, waggling his eyebrows. Magnus rolled his eyes but he didn't answer: he knew how to speak Jace's language by now and he understood his friend's bragging for what it truly was... A self-defence act, a way to show that he wasn't worried about his lack of long-term relationship when, in fact, he was terrified to end up alone. Magnus knew there was a girl though, Jace's childhood friend, whom he had always loved... Clary. Why couldn't she play Jace's girlfriend and fall in love with him by the end, just like in every good rom-com movie? She was his one and only type.

Speaking of which...

"Why me?" Magnus asked. "I mean, I get it, I'm your friend. Your _male_ friend, in case you'd forgotten. Do I also need to remind you that you're straight? Unless you hid things from me, that is... Why didn't you ask a girl?"

Jace squirmed a little on his chair and actually ate some spaghetti to stall, taking his sweet time to chew and swallow, before he answered.

"I was thinking..." he started, "I hope Clary will get jealous if she sees us together. Maybe she'll realise that she has always loved me too. So when we break up, she and I can get together!"

"So she'll be there?" Magnus checked with him, "For the barbecue?"

Jace nodded while his friend tried to refrain from rolling his eyes: attempting to make Clary jealous was a bad idea, not to mention one that was doomed to fail, he knew as much. He had never met her but from what he'd heard his roommate say about the young art student, she was a nice girl so Magnus didn't think that pettiness and jealousy would ever motivate her actions.

"That's not the only reason though," Jace added after a short while, ruffling his blond hair with his hand, "Alec, my brother... He came out to my parents a few months ago and... It didn't go too well."

Magnus raised a brow, unable to see where this was going yet. Jace had mentioned his big brother and his other siblings several times of course, and he'd showed him a few pictures; Magnus remembered that Alec was the oldest of the Lightwood siblings, the one who was quiet, the navy SEAL.

"If I go to that barbecue with you, as my _boyfriend_ ," Jace added, "Maybe our parents will see things a bit differently. If they think I'm perfectly happy with a man, maybe they'll stop bothering Alec about his sexuality, you know?"

Magnus nodded, impressed by Jace's desire to support his brother, even though he wasn't sure that this fake relationship was the best way to do so. After all, they were supposed to break up, which wouldn't show a gay happy ending to his parents! But Jace only wanted to help his sibling and Magnus wanted to help his friend, so... Shit.

"Fine, I'll do it," he decided, finally swallowing his mouthful of cold spaghetti.

"Yes!" Jace exclaimed, pumping the air with his fist, "Magnus, I love you!"

"Stop right there," Magnus laughed, "And tell me what I'll have to do."

Jace had told the truth: the whole ordeal would be fairly easy. He only had to be his charming self so that the whole Lightwood family would adore him, and pretend to be in love with Jace. It couldn't be that hard: he only had to bat his eyelids and stare at him as if he was the sun - he could do it. Besides, the act would barely last for a week since they would arrive the day before the actual barbecue and leave a few days after that. Still, Jace assured Magnus that he would have plenty of time to seduce the family during their bonding activities - an idea of Robert, who wanted to strengthen the ties between the siblings and their parents. Magnus privately thought that accepting Alec's sexuality would be a good start but hey, who was he to judge or interfere into their system?

"What kind of bonding activities?" he asked, then.

"Depends on the weather," Jace answered with a shrug, "But make sure to pack your swimming trunks."

When Magnus looked at him in surprise, his roommate explained with some embarrassment that the party would take place in his parents' villa, a small paradise on earth next to a private beach of fine sand. Holy shit. He had always known that Jace's family was loaded but... Wait, did he have to bring a tux? Would they play golf? Oh crap, they would, wouldn't they? He had never played before! The Lightwoods would make fun of his poor aim and they would despise him and his scholarship and the Plan would fail and Jace would never know peace because of him and...

"Relax," Jace said, interrupting the trail of his panicked thoughts as he patted his shoulder, almost as if he knew that Magnus was completely freaking out. "Be yourself and everything will be fine."

The young man snorted. Being himself tended to get him in trouble more than anything but he'd said that he would do this so... He would.

"I'm only doing this for the free food," Magnus pointed out, hiding his anxiety behind a cheeky smile. "And because I'm a good friend."

"The best," Jace agreed.

Magnus nodded, satisfied, and made a mental list of everything he would need to pack while he finished his plate of spaghetti - that Jace washed himself once it was empty, looking happier to do the dishes than Magnus had ever seen him. Maybe their deal would prove to have more benefits than just helping Jace with his parents' interference in his love life? Muhahaha.

Smirking, Magnus told himself that he should do as his friend said: he just had to relax and enjoy a few days at the beach with his best friend, his momentary and very much fake in-laws, and a barbecue - that he would definitely not volunteer to man: he couldn't stand the smell of charcoal that stayed in his hair even after several thorough showers using his best sandalwood shampoo. So, he guessed it wasn't that bad. Even the shovel talk he would certainly get from Jace's siblings didn't scare him - much.

He just had one more detail to discuss with his roommate to make sure that they were truly on the same page there. It wouldn't do to fake-date only to realise that one of them wasn't playing, would it?

"Jace?" Magnus called, peeking into the kitchen, "Just so we're clear, once we're done, I'm not running after you inside a crowded airport to declare my undying love for you. You know that, right?"

"Fuck off, Magnus," Jace laughed, throwing the dishtowel in his face.

  


  


After a tremendous effort on Magnus' part not to pack his whole wardrobe, a two-hours flight, Jace's short-lived panic when he managed to convince himself that their Plan wouldn't work and a half-hour journey in a sleek SUV with the Lightwoods' driver, the boys finally arrived in front of the villa where their acting talents would decide whether they survived the barbecue or not.

Magnus spent a solid ten minutes gawking at the huge house, taking in the marble fountain at the centre of the well-kept garden upfront as well as the short but wide staircase that led to the front door... Which suddenly opened. A tornado of long, dark hair and red lipstick barrelled toward them and Magnus would have grown a bit worried if Jace, standing right next to him, hadn't grinned and spread his arms.

"Izzy!" he shouted with joy, taking a few steps forward to catch his sister around the waist and spin her.

Ah, the famous Isabelle Lightwood. Magnus was impatient and glad to finally meet her: two years of listening to his roommate praising Izzy had made him curious, especially since he knew that she was the brain behind most of their childhood shenanigans. Apparently, neither of her brothers had been able to keep up with her.

"You must be Magnus!" the young woman exclaimed as soon as she left Jace's embrace, only to hug him in turn, "I'm so glad you're here! Jace has told me so much about you!"

"Only good things though, right?" Magnus asked, smiling at Isabelle.

Jace had not lied when he'd told him that his sister was gorgeous. She was a beauty, which he had already been able to see thanks to the pictures hanging on the walls of his roommate's room, but he had never thought that she would be like this. Beautiful, yes, and in a deadly kind of way. Magnus had no doubt that she could kick his ass - either at a sport or a video game. She had this aura of no-nonsense around her.

"Good things, I promise," she reassured him, slipping her arm in the crook of his elbow to drag him toward the house. "Although he certainly never mentioned your amazing sense of fashion! Come on, let me introduce you to everyone..."

Magnus nodded, trying not to show that he wondered what would happen to him, should one of the Lightwoods realise that he wasn't honest with them. Izzy seemed to like him, which was great for the Plan but... Once she would understand what he was playing at, she wouldn't like him much anymore... She didn't have to know though. Jace and he would break up, details would never be shared and it would be all good.

Entering the villa, Magnus found himself going through a hall where paintings were displayed on the walls, with discreet signatures of names that didn't ring any bell in his mind. Granted, he didn't dabble in the painting art but he would have recognised a Picasso or a Rubens. Still, considering what he'd seen of the villa so far, Magnus assumed that these pieces didn't come cheap.

Isabelle led him to a living-room where she introduced him to Clary, whom he felt like he already knew since Jace had told him nearly everything there was to know about her, with heart-eyes and all. Her mother Jocelyn was there as well, a long-time friend of Maryse and Robert's, along with her husband Luke. Magnus immediately took a liking to them, which seemed to be mutual, but he couldn't say the same about the hosts themselves. Maryse and Robert were looking at him with wide eyes, almost as if they didn't dare to think that he was who they thought he was.

"Hi," he stammered to the Lightwoods, whishing that Jace was there with him instead of being...

Where the hell was he? Taking their luggage to their rooms? Or rather _room_ , singular, because they were probably expected to share. Well, wherever he was, Magnus would have preferred that he faced his parents and made introductions himself.

Maybe Jace had felt the tug of his mental prayer in his mind because two seconds later, he skittered in the room, almost breathless, and panted:

"H... Hi mom, dad! So, you've met my boyfriend, Magnus?"

His parents' faces were comical to say the least, or they would have been if they didn't betray a sort of disbelief. Whether it was aimed at Magnus as a whole (maybe the purple shorts hadn't been a good idea after all) or just because he was Jace's boyfriend, he wasn't sure. He could have kissed Clary when she broke the tension with a simple, merry gasp.

"Jace, this is amazing!" she exclaimed, genuinely glad for her childhood friend, hugging him tightly, "I'm so happy for you!"

Magnus nearly laughed his head off when he caught sight of Jace's face at his crush's reaction: expression turning a bit sour, he returned Clary's embrace somewhat stiffly but she didn't seem to notice, too happy that her friend had finally found someone. At least it made Jocelyn and Luke congratulate them too - which was unnecessary in Magnus' humble opinion, it wasn't like they were getting married - and eventually, Robert stepped forward.

"Welcome, Magnus," he said with a faint smile, "Forgive our surprise, Jace didn't tell us..."

He trailed off, looking a bit unsure of the proper way to finish his sentence, but Maryse had no such qualms.

"We didn't expect Jace to bring back a man," she told him with an intense scowl.

"Mom," Izzy said, a warning clear in her voice.

Ooookay. Magnus suddenly understood a lot better what Jace had meant when he'd mentioned that his brother's coming-out had not gone too well. Robert and Maryse had thought they would meet their future nice, charming daughter-in-law and instead, they'd gotten Magnus. Well, he could be nice and charming too! He just hoped that they didn't think he had _corrupted_ their precious son by seducing him - bewitching him. Maybe he should tell them Jace had been the one to ask him out in the first place (that, at least, was the truth) so they wouldn't think all of this was his fault.

He couldn't wait until it was time to tell their story, for he knew it would come: Izzy looked like a curious sister and judging by Clary's joyful expression, she would be delighted to hear more about them as a couple. He looked forward to embarrassing Jace...

Not so much to the bonding activities, though: Maryse was still frowning at him while Robert looked like he didn't know where to set his eyes so that he didn't openly stare at his son's boyfriend.

The purple shorts had definitively been a bad idea. Izzy seemed to like them though, so maybe he should consider this a win. Besides, they were comfortable and he couldn't have survived the flight without them, so...

This whole situation could have grown super awkward super quickly, what with Luke and Jocelyn glancing at the Lightwoods as if they wondered how long it would take for Maryse to finally explode, if two different sounds of footsteps hadn't redirected everyone's attention to the hallway.

The first person to enter the living-room was a boy who couldn't be older than ten, bouncing towards them with a huge smile on his face and shaking a plastic bag labelled with the name of a store in his hand.

"We found fireworks for tomorrow!" he yelled with excitement, shoving the bag into his father's hands before he noticed Magnus. "Hi there!"

"Hi," the young man answered with a smile, glad to see that at least one Lightwood besides Izzy wasn't glowering at him. "You must be Max, correct?"

The kid nodded with a grin splitting his lips, apparently pleased to be some sort of celebrity in the house, but he wasn't the one who spoke next.

"And who are _you_?"

All heads turned then, Magnus' first, and his gaze fell upon a tall and dark-haired man, standing with his legs shoulder width apart and his hands behind his back, in a typical military fashion. He distractedly realised that he was Jace's brother, the soldier, the gay sibling who'd certainly lived through worse than Maryse's anger, but he mostly noticed the hazel eyes and the look of interest and wonder in them as Alec's gaze settled on Magnus and stayed.

"Alec!" Jace exclaimed, ruining Magnus' chances of observing the attractive and sexy newcomer for a little while longer as he strode across the room, wrapping his brother in a koala bear hug.

Alec returned his sibling's embrace with a laugh and his stiff posture relaxed a little, his hands coming up to rest on Jace's back and press him closer.

"Missed me?" the soldier asked with faint amusement.

"Nope," Jace mumbled stubbornly, ignoring the traitorous wetness at the corners of his eyes as well as Izzy's snort.

Watching them, Magnus wondered how long it had been since the brothers had seen each other, whether Alec was based in the US or had been overseas. He couldn't remember Jace telling him he was meeting up with his brother in the last year, so he guessed this 4th of July was a good occasion for them to be home and catch up.

When the brothers stepped back, Magnus felt himself grow hot as he realised that Alec was still staring at him, smiling and ready to introduce himself properly, but Jace was faster. Gesturing at his roommate, he explained:

"Alec, this is my boyfriend, Magnus."

It was painful to watch Alec's gorgeous smile fade and switch to sudden guilt as he brutally looked away, as if forbidding himself to even glance at something that he already knew he couldn't have. Like a little boy who didn't want to see the nice gift his parents were wrapping up for his sibling. Alec extended his hand anyway and Magnus shook it with a tentative smile that was returned, although the man's eyes were filled with bitter sadness.

Aaaaaand Magnus knew that he was screwed right there and then, for he knew that in another universe, should he have been allowed to, he would have done everything in his power to make that man happy. Fuck.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Hopefully you enjoyed this first part, let me know about it! Until next time :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the wonderful response you've given to this story on the first chapter, you are amazing! Thank you for every kudo, bookmark, subscription and comment, and special thanks to those who have been following my stories for quite some time now! I really hope I won't disappoint!

  


Magnus and Jace escaped to the bedroom they would share as soon as they could without looking like they were running away, which was what they were actually doing. They needed to retreat and regroup, relax just a little after these introductions: Magnus might completely assume his sexuality and who he was, he still didn't like being subjected to homophobic comments or even stares. Sure, neither Maryse nor Robert had said much, but five minutes away from them wouldn't hurt.

Also, he needed to change for dinner. Bye-bye purple shorts! As much as he liked them, he'd seen the Lightwood parents' looks and after all, he wasn't there to anger them: he was supposed to make a good impression on them. He could do that for Jace. Magnus was willing to sacrifice his purple shorts for the first evening but no more, so the Lightwood would have to acknowledge his compromise for the night and accept his eccentric tastes for the next few days.

For all these reasons, Jace had excused them on the pretext to give a tour to his boyfriend, leading him directly to the stairs and the bedroom, Izzy's amused laughter echoing in their wake.

"I got your bags here already," Jace said when they entered, and he made sure to lock the door. "You can unpack now if you want, there's room in the left side of the wardrobe."

Magnus did as Jace suggested, picking a pair of tight jeans to wear for dinner at the same time - compromising, yes, but not to the point of ditching tight pants - and he put his clean t-shirts, trousers, shorts and whatnot next to his friend's. Which felt weird.

In their shared campus dorm room, clothes had been piled and scattered everywhere, on their desk, on their beds, in their duffel bags, in their respective laundry baskets, but they had never gotten mixed and now, in their apartment, they had their wardrobe each and could keep their clothes separated. Seeing his shorts next to Jace's acid-washed jeans made Magnus realise that their little act had to seem perfectly believable. Maybe they should hold hands when they went downstairs again.

"You don't mind sharing the bed, do you?" Jace asked out of the blue, turning toward Magnus even as he was changing out of his shorts, exposing his silver stars printed briefs.

Unbothered, Magnus shrugged and put his pants on.

"Not like we've never done it," he pointed out with a raised brow and a smirk.

Jace had the good grace to blush a little, knowing perfectly well what Magnus was referring to: that infamous night he'd gotten so drunk during a college party he had mistaken Magnus' bed for his own and had cuddled the hell out of his roommate, snoring and happily drooling on his shoulder.

"It's a small bed," Jace muttered.

Magnus glanced at the bed then, taking in the reduced dimensions. Oh. Well. Seemed like they would be forced to spoon.

"We'll be fine," Magnus said, "I don't mind. Just keep your hands to yourself."

"As if I'd want them all over you," Jace grumbled with a mighty roll of his eyes.

"You don't know what you're missing out on," Magnus shot back, "I have a great body, my good sir."

"I'm perfectly happy knowing that on an intellectual level only, not with _firsthand_ experience."

Magnus laughed at the pun, nodding to acknowledge Jace's victory on this one. He laid his pyjamas out on the bed already, taking note of the planet patterned sheets, and only then did he realise that this room must have stayed like it was when Jace was a teenager. Judging by the posters on the walls, space nerd Jace had apparently loved the Sex Pistols and cute cats sleeping on top of each other as well. Cute.

The right side of the bed was pushed against a wall where pictures were assembled and pined; Jace and his siblings stood on most of them, sometimes all four of them, sometimes only Jace and Alec, or Max, or Izzy. Magnus recognised one of the pictures because he'd seen a copy before in Jace's wallet: it showed his parents on their wedding day, Celine looking absolutely gorgeous in her white dress and smiling like it was the best day of her life. He knew how much his roommate cherished that picture, since he only had a few of his biological parents.

Maryse and Robert were on the wall as well, for example standing on each side of him on Graduation Day, but Magnus' attention got caught by a picture that wasn't pined to the wall but set on Jace's bedside table. He recognised the villa and its marble stairs in the background, as well as Alec and Jace in front of the fountain, but the brothers looked a few years younger. Alec was wearing his military uniform, his right arm around his little brother's shoulders, and he was smiling.

Magnus took a moment to observe Alec's features, which he had not allowed himself to do in front of the man ten minutes ago: staring would have been rude, not to mention suspicious. Right then and there though, he could spend some time to look and take in the plump lips, the hazel eyes he had already noticed and the fluffy, soft-looking hair. The picture didn't manage to render the deadly, effortless way he was carrying himself with, though.

"It was the day he left for the first time," Jace said softly when he noticed what his friend was looking at. "Went on his first mission overseas."

Magnus averted his gaze from the picture, shuddering to think of what Alec had seen out there. He didn't know what could push someone to enlist and risk his life - hero complex?

"You were okay with his choice?" Magnus asked, remembering the way Jace had nearly cried when his big brother had come into the living-room.

"Well, it's _his_ choice," Jace told him, shrugging uncomfortably, "And I can't judge his life choices but I can't say I'm fine with it either. I'm terrified something is going to happen to him one day. But he's doing okay so far and I know he's got great army buddies to watch his six, so... I guess I can live with that."

Magnus nodded but as he took one good look at Jace and his dejected face, he decided to change the topic or maybe suggest that they went downstairs to join their hosts and Clary's family. It was crystal clear that Jace loved his brother and feared for him, so Magnus promised himself that he would not broach the army matter again. Besides, if Alec was on leave, he might want to enjoy his time with his family, even problematic as they seemed to be, and not hear that Jace and he were talking about his job behind his back.

To his surprise though, Jace's face suddenly lit up and he said:

"You know, I'm actually super freaking happy that Alec and his unit get on so well and support each other. He even came out to them first."

"He did?" Magnus asked in wonder.

The _Don't ask, don't tell_ policy might have been repealed, he knew that it still wasn't that easy being openly gay in the army. Even in civilian jobs and situations, prejudices against the LGBT+ community were still going strong, so the army, an institution historically masculine with a clear definition of what _proper masculinity_ entailed... Alec must have iron nerves as well as iron balls, since he'd come out to his fellow SEAL's. Magnus felt a surge of admiration for the soldier.

"He did," Jace confirmed with a smile, "He said that he wanted to be honest with them..."

"How did it go?" Magnus asked with trepidation, fearing the worst.

"Surprisingly well," his friend said, "Most of them were okay with his sexuality and those who weren't didn't say anything, because he's a good soldier and he gets the job done. But they were mostly supportive, so much that he thought he could come out to the family as well."

Which Magnus could see hadn't had the same positive results as it had on Alec's unit. He could imagine his disappointment: the young man must have assumed that his own family would be as supportive, or maybe even more, as his army pals had turned out to be... A chance that his siblings were far more open-minded, even though they couldn't replace his parents. Magnus really hoped that they would cut him some slack and learn to accept all of him, especially once they would realise that Jace wasn't gay nor bi: he prayed that not all the criticism would fall back onto Alec's shoulders only.

"Maybe we should go back," he suggested, "Not leave your brother alone..."

"Izzy, Max and Clary's family are on his side," Jace said to reassure him. "Really, it's just mom and dad who aren't... Well. Maybe they'll change though, you know? Maybe if they can see that we have a stable, loving relationship..."

"Is that what you call it?" Magnus laughed, "Two friends pretending to have the hots for each other are the paragon of love, now?"

"Shhhhh," Jace hushed him, putting both of his hands on Magnus' mouth and glancing toward the locked door in worry, "What if someone hears you?"

"Okay, okay, sorry," the young man apologised, contrite, after he'd licked Jace's fingers away and earned himself a disgusted _eeeew, Magnus!_ "You don't think they would eavesdrop on us, do you?"

"Max might," Jace admitted, wiping his hand on his bed with a frown. "He looked really happy when I introduced you, so maybe he'll want to follow us everywhere and get more information. He's a real little spy."

The blond man looked proud as he shared that fact with Magnus who, in turn, started to worry a little: what if Max caught them when they were like this, relaxing and talking just as friends? Would they need to suddenly make out to deflect all questions and suspicions? Oh God. Magnus didn't want to kiss Jace. He never had so far and he was completely satisfied with his Jace-kissing virginity, thank you very much. Crap, maybe he should have thought about it earlier...

"At least your mom isn't going to bring us breakfast in bed," Magnus joked, quite confident that he was right and that he wouldn't have to suffer through awkward moments in the early hours of the day.

"Mom won't... But Izzy might," Jace corrected him with a grimace.

Great. Magnus promised himself that he would set up his alarm to wake up before anyone else did.

"So... Ready for dinner?" his roommate asked.

Magnus' only answer was a deep, deep sigh and then, he reached out to take Jace's hand in his own.

"Don't squeeze so hard," the blond man protested, wincing, "I'm not going anywhere!"

"Shut up," Magnus shot back without heat, "It has to look like I can't let go of you: we just spent quite some time alone, in your bedroom. For all they know, you just sucked me off and made me really happy, so..."

"Oh my God, Magnus!" Jace squeaked, bringing his free hand to his eyes, "Thanks for the image! I hate you so much, I swear..."

"Right now, I'm pretty sure you love me. Now, shall we?"

And Magnus unlocked the door to join the others downstairs.

  


  


Magnus was relieved to find out that dinner didn't, fortunately, include lots of cutlery that he had no idea what to do with or when to use. He didn't really want to feel like Jack in _Titanic_ , that one time he was invited to dinner with first-class passengers and got confused by the sheer amount of forks and knives. Instead, he was glad when Clary told him that her mom had made lasagne while Maryse took care of dessert and Robert, of the wine. Lasagne sounded perfect, less sophisticated and so much more welcome than the lobster Magnus had feared he would get.

Knowing that helped him to relax a little, because he knew that this dinner would be Jace's and his first real trial: he already knew questions would fly their way... That, and the fact that Alec sat right in front of him across the table when they all took their seat; the soldier's dark eyes briefly stopped on Magnus' face before he looked away, but the intense spark in these hazel orbs stayed printed in his mind. Magnus didn't think he was going to survive this first evening.

But then, Jace made a show of putting their hands on top of the table to show everyone their entwined fingers and he deliberately brushed his thumb across Magnus' knuckles in slow, regular circles, maybe as a way to focus on something else than this dinner or to reassure his roommate that they would be fine. He really, really hoped that he was right.

"Thank you so much for having me," Magnus said once they were all seated and their plates were full, flashing Maryse and Robert the most grateful smile he could muster, "I know I'm not what you were expecting but... I'm really happy I finally managed to meet you all."

"You seem like a good man, Magnus," Jocelyn took the liberty of answering before any of the Lightwoods could, "Luke and I have known Jace since he was a kid and I don't think we've ever seen him bring someone here before. You must be special."

"That is obviously true," Maryse grumbled, although she was certainly not referring to what Magnus meant to Jace.

He _had_ been wearing purple shorts when he'd arrived, after all.

"I'm happy for you, Jace!" Max exclaimed with his childish innocence, not even beginning to understand what his parents would find odd or wrong with their son's lover. "You took your time!"

"But I finally found the perfect one," Jace shot back to his little brother with a wink, before he turned to Magnus and whispered lovingly, "Right, babe?"

Maryse's fork of lasagne shook on its way to her mouth at the nickname but she didn't stop eating and only narrowed her eyes at Jace and his boyfriend.

"Yes, honey," Magnus answered, deciding to play the game at full force now that they were into the thick of it. "I think we might end up married faster than we planned."

Jace nearly spat his mouthful of lasagne and Magnus had to keep himself from giggling like a maniac when he caught sight of his friend's shocked expression, that he quickly hid behind his glass of red wine as he swallowed a long gulp of it.

"How long have you been together?" Izzy asked with curiosity, as well as an unhealthy dose of excitement.

Jace and Magnus answered at the same time and their coordination would have been amazing, had they given the same reply. Instead, they got a chaos of two different answers:

"Months."

"Years."

A stunned silence fell over the dining room as everyone frowned and tried to make sense of their words, while Magnus and Jace exchanged a panicked look and blurted out, trying to fix their mess:

"Years."

"Months."

"What Jace means," Magnus squeaked, unable to control his voice as he scrambled for a convincing explanation, "is that we've been in love for years and never managed to tell the other. Until five months ago, that is."

"In my defence," the blond man said, quickly getting his footing back, "You had girlfriends and boyfriends even while you were falling in love with me."

"I thought you were straight!" Magnus protested, marvelling at how easily it all came to him.

"Didn't we all?" Alec suddenly whispered.

If Magnus wasn't mistaken, it was the first sentence the soldier said from the whole evening, and he couldn't help but shiver at the deep voice and the beautiful lips uttering the words. Alec's tone was sad though... He wondered if the man's dejection was because he thought that Jace hadn't wanted to tell him about his sexuality, even though Alec himself had come out, with all the consequences Magnus knew about. What a mess. How could they explain to the soldier that Jace hadn't said anything because this was all made up?

"Sorry," Alec said, "I shouldn't... It's not my place to judge. I'm sorry."

"It's..." Jace trailed off, hesitation clear on his face and in his voice, and he was probably thinking the same as Magnus, "Alec, it's okay. I, uh... I was pretty surprised myself, actually. It was like... an epiphany. I met Magnus and boom!"

So much for not making Maryse and Robert think that he had seduced their adoptive son, Magnus thought just a little bitterly. Alec snorted at his brother's words but he didn't sound very happy and then, he refocused on his plate as if he wanted to disappear in the sauce to never be found again. Luke, bless him, was the one to rekindle the conversation:

"And how did you two lovebirds actually meet?" he asked with a kind smile.

"We were roommates during our first college year," Magnus answered happily, glad to be telling the truth for once.

"We're still living together," Jace added, "We have an apartment near our campus, it's way better than our dorm..."

"I bet it's easier to be alone, too," Isabelle snickered.

Magnus waggled his eyebrows at her, neither denying nor confirming, and she laughed while Jace blushed - whether that was a genuine reaction to the teasing or merely fake embarrassment, it helped to make the tension go down a little and the conversations steered away from Magnus' and Jace's relationship for a little while, until Max demanded to know how they had noticed their feelings for each other.

"It was hard not to notice Magnus," Jace started, glancing at his friend with a shit-eating grin.

Anyone else would have thought that the blond man was going to say something deep or wax poetics about his boyfriend's eyes, but not Magnus. He knew his friend enough to foresee that Jace was about to say something stupid.

"I couldn't ignore him nor my feelings," Jace added dramatically, "Not when he was walking around the dorm stark naked!"

Max gasped but his sister laughed again, soon joined by Clary, and Magnus rolled his eyes. He couldn't even defend himself this time, because Jace was telling the truth... Partly. Yes, Magnus enjoyed walking around their apartment without much clothing but he still had his dignity so no, he didn't prance around the rooms without at least his briefs.

"You didn't mind," Magnus grunted, and it was Jace's turn to roll his eyes.

The two friends' shoulders grew less and less tense the more they talked and made up a few things about their couple, although they mostly tried to twist the reality instead of imagining answers that they wouldn't remember the next day: their act needed to be as coherent as possible to be convincing.

Maryse and Robert didn't ask many questions, almost as if they didn't want to know more about their son's relationship, but the wine seemed to make them relax a little and they even laughed with everyone else once or twice. However, Magnus couldn't help but notice that Alec's laughter, even though it joined the others', didn't sound too genuine... He hoped, fingers crossed, that it was just the young man's usual demeanour and not just because he didn't like his brother's boyfriend. Another reason for his downhearted behaviour was niggling at the back of his mind and Magnus wasn't sure that he wanted to go there so quickly but...

He had seen the interest in Alec's eyes when they had settled on him for the first time - and Magnus had also witnessed how fast he had looked away as soon as Jace had introduced him as his boyfriend. There had been something there, for a few too short seconds, and Magnus didn't want to sound conceited but he was almost sure that Alec had wanted him, before realising that Jace already had him.

Magnus was distracted from his thoughts about Alec and his sad but beautiful eyes when Maryse brought the dessert from the kitchen and placed a tray filled with ten bowls of banana split at the centre of the dining table. Whether it was the shape of the fruit or too much wine that made Robert snort all of a sudden, Magnus would never know, but he was ill inspired all the same as he said:

"So, Jace, Magnus... Who's the woman in your relationship?"

The reactions of every guest around the table were as immediate as they were various: Jace blushed to the roots of his blond hair, Izzy and Clary face-palmed, and Max looked mostly confused while Jocelyn and Luke seemed to be appalled at the bold and inappropriate question. Even Maryse looked a bit uncomfortable as she glanced at her husband. Magnus was frozen on his chair, eyes wide, wondering whether this was a joke, ignorance or actual curiosity on Robert's part, and he didn't know what to say, how to reply to such an improper question.

In the end, it turned out that he didn't need to find the words himself, because Alec was quicker than him.

"The very definition of a gay relationship is that there is no woman involved," the soldier snapped at the same time as he stood up, scraping his chair back. "None at all. Now excuse me, but I can't do this."

Alec left the room in a few angry strides and went into the kitchen, from which the sound of a plate breaking came a few seconds later and made the guests, still stunned into silence, flinch slightly.

"I'm fine!" the soldier shouted from the next room.

Isabelle and Jace exchanged a hesitant look and made an aborted gesture to rise, probably thinking of joining their brother to comfort him, but they seemed to think better of it and sat back down instead. Magnus supposed that they knew their sibling well and would rather let him calm down before going to him. Well, now he understood Jace's desire to bring support to his big brother a lot better...

"Uh..." Max said, sounding a little scared by his brother's outburst, "Is Alec okay?"

"He will be," Maryse answered without looking at her husband - nor anyone else, for that matter. "Do you want your dessert?"

Max nodded, so Maryse handed the bowls over and just like that, the tension went down noticeably, even though Jocelyn and Luke shared a few more worried glances. While Magnus was glad that no one had gotten punched after Robert's mistake, he felt uncomfortable as hell staying there, eating his banana split as if nothing had happened. He waited a few more minutes, nibbling on the banana and ice-cream, before he stood up and grabbed Alec's bowl of slowly melting dessert.

"This banana split is amazing," he told Maryse with a charming - and honest - smile, "I'd be disappointed if Alec didn't get his. I'll... I'll be back."

Magnus hurried out of the dining room, meeting Jace's eyes as he passed him by and catching the look of gratitude in them for checking on his brother. Glancing at Isabelle, he managed to see the same thankful expression and came to the conclusion that they probably hadn't moved in order to preserve the fragile balance between the family and not start a fight. Well, Magnus wasn't family, no matter what Jace and he were playing at, so maybe that was the reason why he reached the kitchen without anyone calling him back to the table.

Goodness, what a family.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! In the next one, Magnus and Alec will find themselves alone together for the first time... See you then! ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I'm pleased to give you this chapter and Magnus' and Alec's first proper talk! Thank you for all the comments and all the love on this fic, you are the best :)

  


When Magnus walked into the kitchen, banana split in hand, he felt so out of his depth that he started to wonder whether this was a good idea: Alec didn't know him, had no reason to trust him, and maybe he wouldn't want a perfect stranger, his brother's boyfriend to top it all, to see him so soon after what had transpired in the dining room.

Alec had been hurt and angry because of his father's words, rightly so, but Magnus had no clue about how the young man dealt with that kind of situation. Izzy and Jace hadn't stood up to join their sibling but then again, they hadn't stopped Magnus from going after him either, so... He had to give it a try.

His eyes flicked to Alec who was sitting at the kitchen table, shoulders hunched and plump lips frowning as he stared at his hand and the bleeding cuts across his palm.

"You're hurt," Magnus stated as he stepped forward.

Alec hadn't looked like he'd heard him come in but he didn't flinch in surprise when Magnus spoke, neither when he sat down in front of him, and the young man mused on the soldier's hearing and skill at spotting everything and everyone without batting an eyelid. Navy SEAL. It figured.

"I broke a plate," Alec said with a shrug, gesturing at the few pieces of a shattered earthenware plate next to the sink, before he finally looked up to stare at Magnus. "Better than my father's nose though."

Magnus let out a startled laugh, not quite sure that Alec was serious but not quite sure that he was completely joking either, and then he pushed the bowl of banana split toward the soldier with a tentative smile.

"I thought you might want to enjoy dessert in a calmer environment..."

Alec laughed then (which, _oh whoa, such an angel_ ) and he stood to get two spoons from the cutlery drawer.

"Want to share?" he asked with eyebrows arched in wonder as he came back to the table and offered one of the spoons to Magnus.

"Sure, thanks," the young man said, feeling a bit giddy inside.

Magnus didn't like to share his food, probably as a result from his childhood spent in this or that foster family and the fear he'd sometimes felt about not being fed properly. Cooking for Jace and him in their apartment helped, because he was in charge and knew he was the master of his own dinner but he always made too much, not even intentionally so, maybe in an unconscious way to make sure that he wouldn't go to bed starving that night. So, sharing food was a delicate matter for him and he couldn't help but think that Alec wanted to keep him in the kitchen for a little while longer, to enjoy his presence without anyone else around. Magnus wasn't complaining. At all.

At least, until Alec brutally avoided his gaze, which Magnus realised perfectly matched the time he started licking his little spoon with too much enthusiasm to get every last drop of melting ice-cream. Oops. He guessed he was right then: Alec _did_ indeed feel some attraction to him, or else he wouldn't be there, nearly choking on his banana (ah!) because Magnus was making inappropriate swirls with his tongue.

The soldier didn't look uncomfortable though, no, he seemed... Well, he seemed a bit turned on to be honest, as well as incredibly guilty. He was valiantly trying not to stare, not to pay attention to Magnus' whole being and small gestures: his fingers playing with his rings, his tongue darting out to lick his lips and the vanilla ice-cream... And Magnus knew that he should go and not make it more difficult for the young man, he should leave Alec before it became really awkward or uncomfortable for him and yet... Well. Alec wasn't the only one to feel the pull between them.

"I'm sorry," Alec said suddenly, sounding desperate to talk about something that would help him focus, "Sorry about the little show back there."

"You have nothing to apologise for," Magnus answered, resisting the urge to reach out and take Alec's hand to comfort him, "Your dad, however..."

"Yeah," Alec snorted without mirth, "But that's not happening."

Well, Magnus had guessed as much. This situation seemed to have been going on for quite some time already and he didn't think that it would change just because Jace had brought his (very much fake) boyfriend to strengthen the ranks of the gay Lightwood kids. Magnus had doubted from the start that his friend's idea was a good one but now, after barely a few hours in company of this family, he was more and more comforted in his opinion. It was a truly dreadful tactic, especially since Alec's interest in him wasn't just Magnus' brain conjuring attraction where there was none. He had to tell him the truth. He didn't want the soldier to beat himself up for liking his brother's boyfriend...

Besides, Magnus didn't want to act like he didn't feel the same way about Alec. He was curious about him, wanted to know more than just his name, his job and his obvious problem with his dad. He wanted to take his sweet time to discover who Alec was, what he liked, what he was scared of, whether he was a cat or a dog person, if he enjoyed slow strolls on the beach in the late evening to watch the sun go down or if he preferred morning runs through a damp forest to breathe in the fresh dew the night had left on the grass. Magnus wanted to peel every single one of his layers to find the real Alec, bare and raw, the soul and the heart underneath the stiff soldier's attitude.

He already knew that, should Alec want the same, he would let him, gladly. Magnus would let himself be taken apart and pulled back together without a hint of hesitation, because he would trust these eyes, these hands, to undress him and reveal everything that made him _Magnus_.

He must have tuned out what Alec was saying, too caught up in his sudden desire to understand the young man deeply, to take in his essence, and he suddenly realised that the soldier was looking at him, as if awaiting a reaction to something he had said... That Magnus had completely missed. Great.

"I, uh... S... Sorry, what?" he blundered, blushing horribly when Alec's lips curled in an amused smirk.

There was no way he knew what Magnus had been daydreaming about, right? He hadn't drooled nor made heart eyes or let out enamoured sighs, had he? He really hoped not. The man's smile dimmed a little though, then he repeated his previous words and this time, Magnus paid attention - to what he was saying of course, not to his captivating lips.

"I said, I'm sorry... Again, I guess," Alec chuckled, glancing away for a brief moment, "For making it sound like I doubted Jace's affection for you."

Magnus' heart stopped for a second at the thought that Alec had seen through their act and his face scrunched up in uneasiness: if he had to be caught, then he wanted Jace to be by his side to make their plan and their reasons for this whole shady business clear. After all, it was his idea and Magnus had only been an accomplice... Which was probably as bad as being the instigator. But then, he realised that the soldier was apologising for thinking that, and his eyes widened with confusion as he stared at Alec, tilting his head to the side.

"You know," the other man explained, looking incredibly shameful and apologetic, "When I said that I thought he was straight... I... I shouldn't have said that, I didn't mean to imply that he wasn't sure of himself, or about _you_ , and..."

Oh shit, Magnus couldn't do this. He couldn't watch Alec blame himself for being disrespectful, or so he thought, to his brother. He wanted to tell him the truth, to spell it out for him if needed, just to make sure that he truly understood what was going on: that Jace was still as much in love with Clary as he'd been when they were kids, and that Magnus was one hundred percent single and ready to mingle.

He couldn't do it though, not like this, not when Jace didn't even know what Magnus thought of his brother, not when they hadn't thought of a plan B in case something prevented them from making it through with their original plan. Of course they hadn't, because neither of them could have imagined that Alec would have such bad timing! Under any other circumstances, Magnus would have made his interest known as soon as he'd laid his eyes on him but now... It just wasn't possible.

"Stop," he said gently, interrupting Alec's self-punishing apologies. "I understand your surprise and it's okay, you... You didn't know."

"But I, above all people, should know not to assume people's sexualities," the young man answered quietly.

"Jace isn't mad at you," Magnus asserted, certain of himself on that point, "I'm definitely not mad either so please, please, don't be mad at yourself when we're not. Jace just... You know, he fell in love. Boom."

"That's what he said," Alec agreed with a nod, "Of course it had to be you."

Magnus didn't have the time to ask what he meant by that, although he was pretty sure it was a confession of sorts, because the soldier's eyes widened at his own words and he hurried to add, gesturing at Magnus:

"I... I mean, look at yourself! You're handsome, you've got great legs and Jocelyn's right, you do look like a good guy and... Of course Jace had to fall for you."

Magnus tried really hard not to pay attention to the fact that Alec had apparently noticed how nice his legs looked - thank you, purple shorts.

"T... Thanks," he stammered, "I... I guess I took Jace by surprise that first year at college?"

"He did mention an epiphany," Alec replied, nodding. "Lucky him. I'm actually glad that he found you and that he doesn't seem bothered by his sudden self-discovery... I struggled during my whole teenage years to accept myself and I wouldn't have wished the same on him."

Magnus would have answered that he was glad Alec had eventually managed to feel good about who he was, but his inspired speech was rendered impossible when Maryse walked into the kitchen, followed by Max and Luke who were discussing whether giraffes or elephants were the best-looking animals; the three of them were carrying dirty plates, forks and knives and dessert bowls. Magnus caught the sideway glance Maryse cast in Alec's direction and he didn't think he was imagining things when she looked relieved to see him calm.

However, he felt pretty disappointed when Alec stood up, gathered the pieces of the broken plate and threw them in the trash with a mumbled apology to his mother. He turned around, ready to leave the kitchen, but then he halted and glanced at Magnus.

"It was nice talking to you," he told him with a smile, small but genuine. "Goodnight, Magnus."

He answered with a wave of his hand, but Alec was gone already, leaving him with a heavy heart at the thought that the young man would go to bed thinking that Magnus would join Jace for the night. It didn't sit well with him but he didn't get to dwell on it much longer: Luke and Max had left too and Maryse hesitantly approached him.

"Sorry about what happened at dinner," she told him right away, with an abruptness that Magnus considered as discomfort at talking about it with her son's boyfriend. "Believe it or not, I'm trying to deal with all this, but Robert..."

She let out a sigh, long and heavy, and she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I'm trying," she repeated, "And I thought I'd be able to get over it for Alec's sake but... Now Jace? Where did I go wrong with them?"

Magnus didn't think that Maryse was actually asking him but he answered all the same: if she was trying to work on herself to accept her oldest son's sexuality, he wouldn't be the one to discourage her.

"Nowhere," he told her, "Alec's or, hell, my sexuality aren't mistakes, neither is it your fault. Falling for someone, whoever they are, isn't a mistake, not when it's about love, affection, tenderness. It is such a positive feeling, don't you think?"

"I guess..." Maryse slowly said, looking uncertain, "It's just... It isn't the life I would have wanted for my sons."

"What would you wish for them, then?" Magnus asked.

He was a bit surprised that Maryse was still humouring him and answering him in spite of the private kind of topic. He hadn't actually believed that she would, because he was her son's boyfriend whom she'd just met and they weren't close enough to share details like these... Did she need to talk to someone? Robert didn't seem like he would lend an attentive ear to her issues regarding her relationship with their oldest son, Max was too young and her older kids lived in apartments away from her. He hoped that she could at least turn to Jocelyn and Luke when she felt the need to talk or be comforted.

"I... I don't know," Maryse eventually said, "A family, kids, a good job... It was bad enough that Alec chose to get in the Navy, it's... The military makes it hard for a stable love life, not to mention a family."

She didn't speak of the dangers of that job, especially for special forces, how they could shatter a soldier and their whole family. It was there though, lurking under Maryse's resentment for the inaccessible apple-pie life that she would have wanted for her boys.

"These are his decisions," Magnus insisted nonetheless, "You should be happy for him, for taking the path he wanted to and for being proud of who he is. Besides... One day he'll meet a good man, one who will love him like he deserves, one who will make Alec want to fight to keep him. You are his mother, you have to stand by him, always. That's... That's what I would have wanted, myself."

Magnus shut up then, realising that he was panting a little and that his heart was beating faster, blood rushing to his head and making him feel dizzy. He had probably said too much and he was almost expecting Maryse to tell him so, to tell him that he didn't know her son and that he shouldn't speak to her like that, as if he could teach her anything. Yet, she didn't say a word, only blinked at him in shock.

"Thank you," she eventually whispered, "for your honesty and your insight."

"Oh. Uh, you... You're welcome, I guess?" he stuttered, taken aback by this calm and positive reaction he had not thought he would get.

"I mean it," Maryse added, flashing him a tight smile, "I think Jace is lucky to have you in his life."

Oh, how lucky indeed.

  


  


"We need to talk," Magnus barked at Jace as soon as he returned to the dining room where everyone was still seated, save for Alec, Maryse and himself, chatting around a cup of coffee - and tea, he noticed when he glanced at Clary.

He grabbed Jace's wrist, tugged on his arm until he got on his feet and dragged him to the stairs and all the way up to his friend's bedroom. Magnus hadn't bothered excusing Jace and him before leaving, but he assumed that their hosts would laugh it off and put the blame on their hormones that wanted them alone and naked as soon as possible. Gross.

"We need to talk," Magnus repeated, shoving Jace on his bed and crossing his arms.

"Are we breaking up?" his friend asked with a grin.

Magnus glared at him and Jace winced, quickly coming to the conclusion that whatever his roommate wanted to talk about was serious.

"This is about your brother," Magnus said without preamble, which got Jace to open wide eyes.

"Max?"

"What? No! Alec!"

"Oh," Jace whispered, growing even more serious. "Thank you for checking on him, Izzy and I didn't know what to do... He knows we're in his corner but when we can't openly react, I always get scared that he'll think we're giving up on him."

"Your family is a mess," Magnus summed up, collapsing on the bed next to Jace.

He barely avoided smashing his head into the wall with how narrow the mattress actually was and he smoothed his hair. Next to him, Jace laughed softly and patted his arm.

"Welcome in the family," he joked, "Be happy you'll leave it in a few days..."

"Speaking of which," Magnus added, sitting up so brusquely that he almost smashed his head again, this time in Jace's nose.

His roommate yelped.

"Oh come on," Magnus muttered, "I didn't even touch you, don't be a baby. So, I was thinking... We need to tell Alec the truth about us."

"What?!" Jace exclaimed, before he glanced at the door and repeated in a sharp, low breath, " _What?_ Why?"

"Because he likes me!" Magnus explained, keeping his voice in control so that he wouldn't raise it too much and risk that someone heard him. "And I don't mean it as in, _he likes me and will be disappointed we're breaking up_ , no, he _likes_ me!"

Jace looked at him as if he'd grown a second head, until he closed his eyes and took a deep, deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, he looked mildly horrified and resigned at the same time.

"Well, shit," he eventually said, "What about you?"

Magnus let out a bitter laugh before he answered.

"Me?" he echoed, "Trust me, if it weren't for the Plan, I would have asked him out the second we met."

"That bad, uh?" Jace wondered aloud, bumping shoulders with his friend in sympathy.

"Have you seen your brother?" Magnus shot back. "He's so hot I want to lick him all over and he looked so sad earlier that I wanted to hug him and never let him go back into the mean, wild outside world ever again. So yeah, that bad."

Jace didn't answer but he looked vaguely disturbed, which Magnus guessed was because of the _licking_ comment. Well, he didn't feel any regret about his choice of words; that would only partly make up for all the times he'd heard the moans of Jace's partners coming from his bedroom. There had also been that glorious evening when he'd walked in on his friend and a redhead (coincidence?) going at it on the kitchen table. Magnus had sold that table not two days after and had bought a new one, with a formal interdiction of ever fornicating on it.

"Well, shit," Jace said again, burying his head in his hands and rubbing his eyes, "What do we do? I'm all for telling him the truth but... Can't it wait for a few more days? Until we can go home?"

"Why wait?" Magnus shot back, "Alec... Your _brother_ is suffering because of this, of us. Not only because he likes me and thinks we're together, which makes it an impossible love, but also because he feels like he's betraying you by having his eye on me!"

"The plan was that no one would know this wasn't real," Jace protested as he pointed between the two of them, "Now, what happens when we tell Alec the truth, uh?"

Magnus paused to think about it, but no matter the angle he tried, he couldn't see what problem would possibly arise.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he eventually asked, eyebrows up. "That your brother is happy because he realises he has a very, very good chance with me?"

"Exactly!" Jace exclaimed, gently punching Magnus' shoulder in victory, "You don't know him like I do, maybe he was super subtle so far but that's only because he thinks he can't have you! Once he knows you're available, though... He'll make heart eyes at you all day long!"

Magnus couldn't hold back a dreamy smile at the thought of seeing Alec showing his affection for him and he pretended not to notice Jace's exasperated eye roll. So... Should they really delay the big revelation? Sure, Jace wanted his family to believe that he had been deeply in love and then, had his heart broken so badly that it would never fully heal. That was dramatic. Still, if he wanted it to work, he had to keep their arrangement a secret: somehow, Magnus doubted that Jace's parents would appreciate the joke.

Perhaps he could explain everything to Alec at the very end of their stay at the villa. Maybe he could tell him then, that he didn't feel anything beyond friendship for his brother, that he would be glad if Alec gave him a chance to know him better, that he wished for nothing more... But then, what if they worked, the two of them together, and they had to do this all over again? Introducing Magnus as Alec's boyfriend, this time. What if Maryse and Robert thought that Alec was just a rebound, that it wouldn't work since it hadn't worked with Jace before?

It didn't bode well but then again, neither did telling the truth now and having everyone notice Alec's and Magnus' obvious attraction to each other. Firstly, Jace's plan would fail and secondly, Magnus would be considered as someone who didn't hesitate to play with feelings, and then why would anyone trust that he liked Alec for real? Why would Alec?

Shit, no matter the choice they made, it sounded bad for both. Maybe telling Alec alone, after it was all over, was the best solution - and yet, Magnus hated it, hated the prospect of making him wait and let him believe that his and Jace's feelings were genuine.

"How long are we staying again?" he asked, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"There's the barbecue tomorrow," Jace reminded him, "Then we should stay for two or three more days... Maybe we can make it one instead, if we come up with a good excuse. Leaking sink at the apartment and furious landlord, maybe?"

"Maybe," Magnus grunted, sorry for Alec who would have to go through this for a few more days - he felt a bit frustrated himself but at least, he knew where Jace and he really stood, while Alec didn't.

"I promise you'll have my blessing to date him," Jace said in hopes to comfort his friend a little. "Just be patient? Please?"

"Fine," Magnus grumbled, grabbing his pyjamas on the bed so that he could change for the night, "But you owe me. You owe me so much."

"I know," Jace replied with a smile, before he stood up and dug in their bags to find Magnus' toothbrush, as well as his own. "Bathroom's at the end of the hallway, the door on the right."

"Thanks."

Magnus' trip to the bathroom was short: he quickly brushed his teeth and removed his makeup, put on his pyjamas and walked out, hurrying back to the bedroom and telling Jace that it was his turn. He wanted to get a good night of sleep, dreamless, hopefully, and wake up fresh and ready for a _wonderful_ day in the Lightwood family. Note the sarcasm.

He slipped under the space sheets and closed his eyes, ready to surrender right then to Morpheus, but Jace's return made it somewhat complicated: he'd warned Magnus before but the young man only realised in that instant how narrow the mattress truly was... It was funny, actually, as they pushed each other around to find the best and most comfortable position, Magnus' being the worst for Jace and vice-versa. They were like two kids having a sleepover and fighting for the blankets - and Jace was _this_ close to throw a pillow in Magnus' face, so they eventually calmed down, only squirming a little. In the end, Magnus pouted as he was turned into the little spoon, Jace's bulky form settling behind him.

They didn't make it weird, only bid each other goodnight, but Magnus didn't manage to fall asleep as quickly as he'd hoped anyway. Jace's presence was not the reason for his trouble, the culprit was rather the presence in itself: it wasn't strange or awkward, because they were friends, but it reminded Magnus of how long it had been since he'd last spent a night with someone.

Not in the sexual sense, mind you, just... A restful night next to a loved one. Jace had mentioned Magnus' past boyfriends and girlfriends during dinner earlier but... They hadn't been that many and he had not grown used to sleep next to most of them. Only two of them: Camille, the woman who was as beautiful as she was cruel, a feat Magnus had discovered too late, and George, sweet George who had been a breath of fresh air in his life. None of these relationships had been meant to last and Magnus wasn't bitter about that fact but... Sharing the bed with Jace made a strange feeling of longing rise in his chest and he wondered...

Magnus closed his eyes, fighting against the assault of images, hazel irises surrounded by miles of dark eyelashes, a tempting smile, long fingers curling delicately around the broken pieces of a plate. He tried to push the thought of Alec away.

He tried.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to share all thoughts and opinions, and until next time ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with the new chapter, as promised! Thank you for all your comments on the last one, you are all so supportive and loving, thank you! <3

  


"Jace?"

"Mmmmmh?"

"Jace!"

"Grumph..."

Magnus rolled his eyes at the incomprehensible noises coming from his roommate's lips. Sure, the phones aligned on the bedside table showed that it was only a few minutes before seven o'clock and they had gone to bed late the previous night but that was no reason to keep sleeping like the dead!

"Jace!" Magnus hissed again.

"Whaaat?" his friend groaned this time, raising one slow, puffy eyelid.

"Is that Mini-Jace I'm feeling against my ass?" the young man asked.

The pregnant silence that followed lasted for perhaps two seconds, but what beautiful two seconds! Magnus could feel every shift in them, from Jace's sleepy confusion to his widening eyes, to the moment he sprung apart from Magnus and nearly fell off the bed, until he realised that...

"That was my knee, you idiot!" he exclaimed.

"How was I supposed to know?!" Magnus answered, feigning offense, "You could have been having a very nice dream and rubbing one against me!"

"You are a horrible person," Jace moaned, falling back into his pillow with a grunt. "It's too early for this!"

Magnus chuckled. From day one, back in their dorm, witnessing Jace waking up (by his fault or not) had been an everyday guilty pleasure. His friend was too funny, disappearing under the sheets to hide from the sun that shone through the window on good days, grumbling into the pillow and cursing alarm clocks, mumbling profanities against his teachers who had scheduled early lectures...

It didn't stop with him getting out of the bed, no, it became even better afterwards: Jace would bang into the furniture as he made his way to the bathroom or the kitchen, depending on whether getting his cup of coffee or showering felt like the most important priority. Magnus loved his mornings with his roommate.

"At least we won't get breakfast served by your sister," the young man joked, "Not if we're already up and about. No fake morning cuddle for us!"

"Thank God," Jace said, rising from his pillow, "No offense."

"Absolutely none taken," Magnus shot back with a bright grin.

He pushed his friend a little so that he could untangle his right leg from Jace's, a fact that neither of them commented on, and he left him alone in the bed. Stretching his arms above his head, hearing the satisfying cracks of his joints, Magnus wondered what he would start his day with. Jace hadn't actually given him a tour the previous evening, so maybe he should enjoy the house while most of their hosts were still asleep, in order to get a bit more familiar with the layout of the villa.

Magnus heard a few groans, as well as the telltale sound of sheets rustling, and he turned around to find Jace sitting up, his fists rubbing sleep out of his eyes. This would never not look funny.

"You okay?" he asked, amused smile playing on his lips, that he tried to keep in a straight line when Jace lifted his head to glare at him.

"Yeah... 'm gonna shower," he groaned.

"And I'll try to find my way through the cupboards in the kitchen and make us coffee," Magnus answered, taking pity on his friend, "You'll feel better."

Jace turned grateful eyes towards him before he stood up and rummaged through his wardrobe, from which he took out two different shirts: one was a fairly simple, cotton shirt while the other was a denim gradient-coloured one, with different shades of blue.

"Which one would look better on me?" Jace asked, placing both shirts against his chest and staring at his friend in wonder.

"From Clary's point of view, right?" Magnus guessed, earning a nod and a smile. "The blue one. She's an art student, she'll love it."

Jace nodded again and put the cotton shirt back in the wardrobe, before he glanced at his friend with a question in his eyes, as well as hesitation in case he got an answer he disliked.

"So... What do you think about her?"

"Clary?" Magnus clarified, before he glared at his friend when the ass dared rolling his eyes and grunting _duh_. "I haven't had the chance to really talk to her yet. She seems like a nice girl, though."

"The best," Jace agreed with sparkly eyes.

Magnus couldn't judge, since he didn't know the young woman at all, but she at least had been happy to see Jace arrive with a boyfriend in tow. It didn't serve their Plan much though, since Jace wanted her to get jealous... Which she wasn't. So yes, nice girl who seemed genuinely happy for her childhood friend who had finally managed to get himself a boyfriend. Magnus didn't know what else to tell Jace, he didn't want to disappoint him... And he would definitively do that if he shared what he thought, that the Plan wasn't the right way to make Clary interested in him for more than friendship.

He wished it could work though, he really did. If he had the smallest chance with Alec once this was all over, then Jace and Clary deserved one too - if she even felt this kind of affection for his friend.

Still a bit drowsy but also looking a bit more awake now that he'd spoken about Clary, Jace grabbed clean boxers and socks, while Magnus took off his pyjama top.

"What are you doing?" Jace asked when he saw him half-naked and searching for something through the bedroom.

"Making everyone freak out with how lovely and domestic we are as a couple," Magnus supplied helpfully, before he found the shirt Jace had worn the previous day. "Ah!"

He giggled at Jace's wide eyes as he put the shirt on, spinning to show his full attire: short pyjama pants that stopped above his knees and the unbuttoned white shirt with beige spirals. Magnus would love to stumble across Robert in the stairs and rub in his face how good his abs looked... Or maybe he could start a discussion about nail polish with him, as he would also totally enjoy making him uncomfortable as hell. He hadn't forgotten that he was supposed to make a good impression on the Lightwoods but apparently, Izzy and Max were completely okay with him, Maryse was trying for her sons' sake, and Alec... Well. Also, Magnus could live with Robert hating him, as long as he got to have a little fun.

"What does your mom like?" he asked Jace then, "Or your siblings? I guess today is the day to seduce them and make them fall insanely in love with us?"

"That would be great," Jace agreed, "Let's see, uh... Mom loves Elvis Presley... Max will love you as long as you make him laugh or side with him to get more dessert. Izzy does martial arts and I bet she would love nothing more than show you if you asked and Alec... Alec already likes you, so I'm not sure you need to do more seducing."

"Right," Magnus grumbled, already all too aware that he couldn't flirt with Alec like he would have done, had they both known they were free. "Also, I was thinking... We should start being more into PDA. But not in front of Alec if we can help it."

"Deal," Jace answered easily. "But I'm not kissing you."

"Because you think I want you to kiss me?" Magnus shot back, pretending to gag, "Eeew."

"I'm a very fine specimen!" his friend playfully retorted.

"Go and have your shower," he said with a laugh, "I don't want to hear your stupidity anymore."

Before Jace could protest or brag about himself any longer, Magnus grabbed his phone and ran out of the bedroom, open shirt and all, cackling to himself as he went down the stairs. Contrarily to what he'd told Jace, the first thing he did wasn't to make coffee but to walk out the front door to enjoy the gentle morning sun shyly rising in the sky. The still asleep house was silent and Magnus revelled into the pleasant quietude for a while, trying to forget all about stupid plans, ill-timed crushes and beautiful but unattainable hazel eyes.

It was easier to empty his mind and think about nothing specific outside, where all he could hear was the wind and the distant cries of seagulls, which reminded him that Jace had mentioned a private beach... He would definitely check it out later, maybe to take a break from the family if they became too much to bear. Magnus didn't just mean Robert or Maryse who, even if she was trying to accept her sons wholly, could mess up: he also meant Jace's siblings.

Staying in the same room as Alec without being able to... to _smile_ at him for fear of betraying his attraction would certainly prove to be too difficult at some point and no matter how nice he, Max and Izzy had been before, Magnus dreaded that their tense relationship with their parents could have an influence on his own spirits, already lowered because of his helpless situation with Alec.

Sighing as he reminded himself once again of all the reasons he should keep the truth between Jace and himself, Magnus returned to the house with the firm intent of brewing some coffee for the both of them and headed straight for the kitchen - or so he thought, but the huge house was traitorous and he ended up making a detour through a study. Oh well.

When he finally got to the kitchen, basking in his solitude, he opened an app on his phone to play some music and, inspired by Jace's previous words, he ended up choosing an Elvis Presley playlist. As the first notes of _Suspicious Minds_ rose, Magnus turned to the cupboards with a determined expression. The first one turned out to be home to Tupperware's and glasses. The next one, spices and all sorts of oils and vinegars, as well as sugar and yeast; in short, everything he _didn't_ need to make coffee.

Magnus was about to open the third cupboard, the one above the electric cookers, when someone stumbled into the kitchen and nearly gave him an heart attack.

"Alec!" Magnus squeaked in fright, one hand flying to his wildly beating heart, before he did a double take.

Because the soldier wasn't wearing proper pyjamas. No, he was simply wearing a gray, tight t-shirt and a sinful pair of boxers. Good Lord, have mercy on Magnus' soul! He didn't want to look but how could he possibly ignore these wonderfully muscular thighs? He could imagine them wrapping around his waist to urge him on in the darkest hours of the night and seriously, whose thighs could summon this kind of fantasies to his mind so easily? No one's, at least not before Alec had come in wearing fucking boxers.

"Hi," Alec greeted him, adding his voice, still rough from sleep, to the sexy lot.

"Hey," Magnus said, somewhat steadily - which he was totally proud of! "Up already?"

"Yeah... I usually have short nights, so... Did you sleep well?"

"Yes."

Magnus answered a bit shortly, a bit too awkwardly, because he didn't know what to say. Had Alec been anyone else, Izzy, Jocelyn or even Robert (especially Robert, let's be honest), he would have joked about his night, telling them on a conspiratorial tone that he always slept well in Jace's arms - or that they hadn't done much sleeping. He couldn't bring himself to do this to Alec though, no matter the importance of keeping the act. He felt bad enough already that he was wearing Jace's shirt, something Alec's watchful eye had noticed of course, so he was definitely not adding to that pain.

"Were you..." Alec started hesitantly, trying really hard not to look at his abs, "Were you looking for something?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Magnus stammered, "I... wanted to make coffee? Can't find the damn cups though, nor the pack of coffee for that matter, so..."

"Here," Alec said, helpfully stepping forward.

It happened fast: the soldier moved exactly at the same time as Magnus resumed his hopeless search for mugs, except that Alec was faster and got to the cupboard first, and Magnus bumped into his back. It was fine, really, he could get away with a shaky _oops, sorry_ , and step back, except... Except that Alec turned around.

He turned around and now Magnus was nearly flush against his chest and he felt like his body was thrumming with their sudden proximity and he couldn't... He couldn't help but glance at Alec's lips, so close, parted with surprise at their predicament, and when he looked up, straight into his eyes, Magnus saw that they were hooded with the same envy that was surely reflected in his own irises. They shared an intense gaze, so intense that Magnus couldn't decide whether he wanted to look away or never look away from Alec. His eyes eventually flicked back down to the soldier's lips and he didn't even notice as he leaned forward, enraptured.

"W... What are you d... doing?" Alec whispered, breathing against his mouth, sounding like he was struggling to get his words out, "You... You're Jace's boyfriend..."

"I assure you he won't mind," Magnus said without thinking.

He yelped when he was roughly pushed back and he tried not to pay attention to the bitter disappointment flowing through his veins, focusing on Alec instead, Alec who looked righteously pissed, who looked like he didn't even know whether he should punch Magnus or jump his bones, and that hesitation seemed to anger him even more.

"I don't care if you and Jace are in an open relationship," he eventually spat, "But _I_... I don't share, Magnus."

Magnus watched the soldier leave the kitchen without being able to call him back, no matter how desperately he wanted to, unable to utter a single word, too shocked and angry at himself. He had made Alec mad, thinking that he wanted to cheat on his brother with him, while all he wanted was... He didn't even know. He hadn't planned any of this but Alec had been _right there_ , with his messy bed hair and his bright eyes, and Magnus had followed his heart. He shouldn't have.

Shit, how was he supposed to fix this? What if Alec hated him now, what if he told the whole family that Magnus didn't love Jace as much as they all thought? What if he came to Jace himself to warn him? What if Jace laughed in Alec's face and told him not to worry about it?

Giving up on his plan for coffee, Magnus stormed out of the kitchen, dead set on catching up to Alec in order to apologise and come up with some excuse, to tell him that he didn't know what had happened back there, that it would not happen again, anything... Anything to make sure that the young man didn't hate him.

The odds weren't working in his favour though, because Magnus couldn't guess where Alec had gone to, so he went for the stairs since he imagined that Alec might have wanted to find his brother to tell him about his flirty boyfriend. He nearly toppled backwards when he reached the top of the staircase: Isabelle had suddenly appeared in front of him and he yelped, but she grasped his wrist and tugged him forward so that he could stay balanced on his two feet.

"My saviour!" he cooed, batting his eyelashes and making her laugh.

"Why the hurry?" she asked, "And so early in the morning!"

"Crazy, right?" Magnus laughed nervously instead of answering her question, glancing around.

No trace of Alec. Still, it couldn't hurt to ask, right?

"Have you seen your brother?"

"Jace? He's in the bathroom..."

Ah, yes, of course she would assume that Magnus was looking for the brother he was currently dating. Well, he couldn't exactly tell her that he meant Alec or else, she would ask why he was searching for him in the first place and then, what should he say? _We nearly kissed and I want to apologise_? Nope, that wouldn't do.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Izzy added with a sly smile, "I thought you and Jace would shower together... Spare water, all that?"

As much as he didn't want to think about Jace and he naked and standing under the shower spray together, Magnus forced himself to laugh and he scratched his neck, pretending to be embarrassed.

"Actually..." he whispered as if he was about to let her in into a little secret, "Showering together usually has the opposite effect, if you know what I mean."

He startled a chuckle out of her and she rolled her eyes.

"I shouldn't even be surprised," Izzy said, before she completely dropped the subject, "Tell me, have you already had breakfast?"

"I haven't," the young man answered, shaking his head, "I couldn't even find coffee cups in your horribly huge kitchen."

"Come with me," Isabelle urged him on, looping her arm in the crook of his elbow, "I'll make you the best coffee you've ever tasted!"

Magnus couldn't say no to that: his quest to find Alec had failed so he would have to face the consequences of his slip-up later, whatever they were, and he would gladly switch for a peaceful moment with the beautiful and sweet Izzy. Besides, he was starting to get really hungry and thirsty for his everyday dose of coffee, hence the appeal of Isabelle's suggestion.

Helpful as ever, she pointed at each cupboard in the kitchen and told him what to find in each one, until she opened one of them and handed him two cherry red mugs. Magnus felt his heart squeeze in distress when he realised that it was the same cupboard Alec had wanted to reach when they had gotten into their little, messy situation. The conclusion was fairly simple to draw: the soldier had wished to help Magnus and he'd gone and fucked up just because he couldn't resist his pretty eyes. What did Alec think about him now?

Thankfully, Izzy managed to steer him away from his miserable thoughts and even more so when Clary entered the kitchen a few minutes after them, her red hair a complete mess and her pillow printed onto her cheek.

"Good morning!" she greeted them, sounding cheery even this early, her smile wide as Izzy and Magnus answered her in kind.

The redhead navigated the kitchen with an ease that told Magnus she was used to visiting or maybe even staying over at the villa and she made a quick job of preparing some tea, before she joined them at the table with a fuming cup.

"So, what are the plans for today?" she asked.

"We're not golfing, are we?" Magnus worried, which got the girls to share a glance before they cracked up.

"God no," Clary told him, "Unless you want to follow Robert around and listen to his opinions on pretty much everything for a whole day."

"I take it that you went through it already?"

Izzy snorted, which was confirmation enough, and Clary looked as if she was reliving her worst nightmare. Magnus didn't ask more on that topic.

"What about beach volleyball, though?" Isabelle suggested.

 _That_ sounded a lot better to Magnus' ears and he was quick to agree, relieved that they would play a sport he didn't suck at and one that wouldn't involve boring talks with asshole dad-in-law. If Fate allowed it, maybe he would manage to get on Alec's team and snatch five minutes of his time to apologise.

  


  


Fate hated him. Magnus couldn't fathom any other explanation to the fact that not only Alec was on Jace's team while he was not - Izzy hadn't wanted a couple on either team, so he'd been kicked away from his so-not-boyfriend's side in two seconds top - but the soldier also seemed to be ignoring him. Great.

Izzy and Clary had decided to twist the rules a little so that they could play with more people than intended for the game; as a result, Magnus was playing with Clary, Luke and Maryse while the Lightwood siblings had teamed up. Maryse didn't give any reason to Robert's blatant absence but she looked rather annoyed when she told her kids that he wasn't joining the game. Whether her anger was the result or the source of Robert's non-attendance wasn't clear and no one dared to ask, but Maryse perked up when Jocelyn, acting as referee, announced that they would begin.

Magnus hadn't played volleyball for a long time and he'd lost some of his skill over the years, yet he enjoyed himself: it was impossible not to, not when he stood barefoot in the warm sand, on the private beach Jace had told him so much about... Not even when he tripped and fell flat on his face and had to spat a mouthful of sand.

"Come on babe, you can do better than that!" Jace teased him, tears of laughter pearling at the corners of his eyes.

"Not a word," he shot back as soon as he could do so without choking, "Or no sex for two weeks!"

"Way to go, Magnus!" Luke cheered behind him.

Jace's eyes gleamed at that and he threw the ball, at the same time as he yelled:

"But baby, you love my c..."

"Jace!" Maryse exclaimed, "Innocent ears!"

"Oops," the blond squeaked, turning to Max, who was looking at him with curious eyes while Alec - thankfully - covered his ears.

"Yes honey, innocent ears!" Magnus shouted as he hit the ball and threw it across the net, "So not a word anymore!"

Clary whooped in joy when Jace missed the ball and it landed on his side of the court, bringing the point to Magnus' team.

"I wasn't ready!" the blond man protested.

"Your fault, honey!" Magnus mocked him, before Clary and Luke high-fived him while Maryse smiled at him, a small but genuine smile - he would take that over Robert's ridiculous comments any time.

Jace's team won, in the end, but only because Izzy was wicked and Jocelyn didn't have it in her to point out the times Max accidentally broke a few rules. The Lightwoods made a celebratory run for the waves and the losing team followed at a much slower pace, Clary and Maryse grumbling like the sore losers they actually were. Laughing at them, Izzy took off her light dress to reveal a white and blue bikini, while Jace and Max peeled off their t-shirts and skipped to the sea with loud shouts. For an obscure reason, Alec was the only one to keep his shirt on, a wonderful and sexy thing with short sleeves, even as he jumped in the water with his siblings. When he came out of the sea, he pushed his wet hair backwards but he couldn't do anything about the white fabric of his shirt, which had turned transparent and was now clinging to his skin.

Magnus heaved a sigh that was half-dreamy and half-disheartened. It was _so_ unfair.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go, I hope you liked this chapter! The next one might take a bit longer to be updated, I have to prepare my students' exams and it is an incredibly slow process. Still, I'll try not to make you wait for too long... In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts on this chapter ;) Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fifth chapter is finally here! I thought I'd never manage to finish it... Here we are though! I hope you will like it ;)

  


Magnus hadn't thought that he would ever say that but he was glad that he and Jace had agreed to show a little more PDA that day. It gave him the perfect excuse to cling to his friend without him wondering what the hell was going on: sitting side by side with their thighs pressed together, holding hands, bumping shoulders as they teased each other, all of that meant that Alec couldn't get his brother alone to tell him about what had happened in the kitchen a few hours earlier.

The young man didn't want to keep it a secret, he would tell Jace eventually, but he knew his best friend: the blond lacked subtlety sometimes and Magnus could already picture his reactions if Alec managed to talk to him. The results of such a confrontation, too. Alec would either understand that this whole dating thing smelled fishy, the realisation of which Jace wanted to delay for as long as possible, or the soldier would be hurt, thinking that his brother just didn't care about his boyfriend, that he'd lied when he'd told the family how in love they were.

Well, in both cases, they were lying anyway, and to a man with a strong moral code, if his reaction to Magnus' flirting was anything to go by. Magnus didn't see how they would get out of this one unscathed but it didn't matter: he had made a deal that he was going to honour and he would accept the consequences of his choices and actions with dignity.

Right now, at the start of this warm afternoon, the outcome was that Alec kept ignoring him, building a sand castle with his little brother instead of joining them in a beach limbo. Or maybe it had nothing to do with Magnus at all and the soldier just didn't want to play... To be fair, Magnus couldn't imagine such a long body, used to military stiffness, bending backwards to dance under the bar.

Maybe he shouldn't judge too fast, though... After all, Maryse surprised everyone, her children included, when she went under without trouble, even though the bar was already quite low, and Luke was the first one to forfeit as he collapsed in the sand with a squeak.

"I'm getting too old for this," he complained, massaging his lower back.

"Lies!" Jocelyn wheezed even as she was bending, slowly moving forward, "We'll work on your flexibility together, don't worry!"

"Mom!" Clary exclaimed, scandalised.

"What?" she replied with feigned innocence, straightening up on the other side, "Jace and Magnus aren't the only ones allowed to be all lovey-dovey and talk about their sex life!"

The two friends shared a meaningful glance that had them in stitches in a matter of seconds and Jace still wasn't in total control of himself when he attempted the next level: he ended up knocking the bar down and Izzy booed at him.

"Do it, babe!" Jace told Magnus, striking a theatrical pose, the back of his hand against his forehead and all, "Save my honour!"

The young man reined his laughter in before he stepped forward, slowly leaning backwards, breathing calmly to control each one of his movements. Maybe Magnus wasn't the most talented volleyball player but his flexibility wasn't to discuss and damn, he would go under that bar even if it was the death of him. Or maybe not, that sounded a little too dramatic, even for him.

It was a painstakingly slow process but, one small step at a time, Magnus managed to go all the way under the bar and to reach the other side without falling to his knees or on his back - which, outch.

"Yeah!" Jace roared as soon as his roommate stood up and sprinted to him, "You're the b... Oh, oh, wait!"

Magnus didn't listen: laughing, he ran toward his friend and jumped on him, wrapping his arms around his neck even as Jace stumbled and did his best to grab under his thighs to stabilise him, hoisting him up until Magnus' legs were locked around the blond man's waist. In another universe, or if Jace had been another person - preferably a tall soldier with hazel eyes, not that he was picky - Magnus would have smooched the hell out of him. However, Jace's wide eyes were screaming at him _we said no kissing!_ so the young man yelled instead:

"I did it! You saw that, right?"

Jace laughed with genuine joy as well as a hint of relief, and he spun Magnus in his arms fast, too fast, and he sent them both waltzing into the sand, collapsing with shouts and fits of giggles.

"My boyfriend is the best!" Jace yelled from underneath Magnus, who managed to get back on his feet first and reached out to help his friend up.

As he turned to join the remaining players and go for the next round, Magnus caught Alec watching him, his hands distractedly gathering sand to build a donjon for his and Max's castle. The soldier quickly avoided his gaze when he realised that Magnus had noticed him, looking down and refocusing on his task, and he didn't even do as much as glancing at him again afterwards. Confused and trying to tune down the hopeful voice in his head telling him that maybe Alec didn't hate him, Magnus tried to think.

Why had Alec looked at him? To assess his skills at playing the limbo? Had he watched Jace and him hug so soon after the kitchen incident and thought that Magnus was an asshole? Or had he stared at him with longing, desperate to know the same embrace as Jace? Neither of these last two explanations sounded better than the other... He hoped Alec had just wanted to see how well he was doing under the bar - and yet, he didn't believe it himself.

His attention, along with everyone else's, was drawn away from Alec when Robert appeared on the path that led from the villa to the beach, a sinuous, sandy trail flanked by tall pines. The man was carrying a cooler bag from which peeked the top of several bottles of lemonade and beers.

"I come in peace," he said with an awkward smile as he stepped on the beach, "I thought you could all use some refreshments."

After a stunned moment of silence, Isabelle walked up to Robert in order to help him with the drinks, acknowledging his attempt at making himself both pleasant and useful, but the real challenge would be Alec's and Jace's acceptance. Magnus, should one ask for his humble opinion, would say that a proper apology was needed before anything else: humouring Robert by just ignoring his comments wasn't good enough, he needed to face the consequences of his actions and his words. It didn't seem like it would happen that afternoon though, because Alec merely flashed a tight smile to his father before he looked back at the nearly built castle, without demanding anything of his dad.

Alec's smile, as grumpy as it looked, seemed to equal some sort of signal for everyone else because the conversations and games resumed almost immediately. Magnus didn't miss the way Maryse's face lit up when her husband came by her side and whispered something in her ear, maybe apologies or sweet nothings; it apparently pleased her either way.

Magnus glanced at all of them then, this dysfunctional family who was still trying, with its ups and downs, and Clary's way more loving family and how they tried to help the Lightwoods. He had noticed how supportive they were of Alec's sexuality, not to mention his own relation with Jace - they hadn't even batted an eyelid at the sudden revelation that Jace was at least bisexual - and he had seen the way Luke had made Maryse smile earlier, how Jocelyn cared for Max...

It made him wish that he could be part of that system for real, not just for a few days spent pretending to be Jace's boyfriend. Magnus surprised himself thinking so while he watched Clary trip over the sand and still somehow manage to succeed in the limbo challenge: this family was messed up and yet, he wanted in, because Robert and some delicate topics put aside, the Lightwoods actually seemed great. From what he had seen so far, all the tensions came from their respective, rocky relations to their father or husband...

Magnus wondered if maybe he could help, in his own clumsy way, until he remembered that Jace and he were going to orchestrate their breakup in a few days... And he realised that this would never actually help anyone. Well, maybe Jace, if it stopped Maryse from asking about his love life, but at what cost? It would inevitably affect their friendship when someone asked why they were still living together if they weren't dating anymore, and then what would they do? Keep living a lie? Tell them that they had pretended all along? Magnus imagined the reactions already...

This had been a terrible, terrible idea from the start but it was only getting worse, hour after hour. Magnus hadn't thought that he would actually like the Lightwoods, nor that he would enjoy his time at the beach with them, and he had definitively not pictured himself drooling over Jace's big brother. And yet...

How could he and Jace fix this before it was too late?

  


  


The evening almost began with a disaster: namely, Clary and Jace nearly setting fire to the grass as they started the barbecue, and Alec and his father shooed them away with wild arm gestures. A shy smile passed between them at their similar reaction and they ended up manning the grill together, speaking on low tones. Alec frowned once or twice for a reason that Magnus didn't manage to pinpoint but when Luke joined them behind the barbecue, he wondered if the other man had noticed as well and was there to soothe the other two if needed, so that they wouldn't argue - or at least, not too much.

Izzy interrupted Magnus' contemplation by plopping down beside him and she handed him a fresh beer with a smile.

"I'm jealous," she said with a jerk of her head toward her brother and the two older men, "I've always wanted to get my hands on the grill but I know all too well that the meat would never be edible. Nor anything else, for that matter."

"Not much of a cook?" Magnus guessed, laughing.

"I think the word you're looking for is _catastrophe_ ," Isabelle sighed, rolling her eyes, before she added with a smirk, "But from what Jace told me, you're not too good either."

Magnus nearly choked on his beer.

"What?!" he exclaimed, outraged, his eyes like daggers as he glanced at his best friend a bit further away, "The bastard! I'll have you know that I'm a perfectly decent cook! I just... attempt impossible recipes sometimes."

Magnus didn't have to feign his offense when she laughed, clearly not believing him, and he pouted until she bumped his shoulder and reminded him of her own failures in the kitchen. Max, drawn by the cheery mood, settled next to them and proceeded on telling Magnus everything about his big sister's most famous food-related mistakes; needless to say, Izzy quit laughing at him quickly enough, hiding her face in her hands in embarrassment.

"At least Jace also says nice things about you," Magnus said to comfort her after torturing her for just a little while longer. "He told me you were great at martial arts?"

"She's the best!" Max immediately corrected, as if he couldn't believe that his brother had forgotten to tell Magnus exactly how good Izzy was.

"I concur," Maryse agreed with her youngest son as she passed them by, large bowls of different pasta salads in her hands, and Izzy's eyes widened while she watched her mother go to set up the buffet in a corner of the garden.

"I'm not dreaming, she just said that, right?" she asked in a breath, turning toward her brother and Magnus.

Max nodded slowly, almost solemnly, perfectly understanding the reason for Isabelle's surprise at her mother's words while confusion spread across Magnus' face. The siblings caught that though, and Izzy chuckled weakly.

"I want to _teach_ martial arts," she explained with eyes that sparkled when she started getting into the details, "A friend of mine is looking for a place to rent, maybe even buy, and we would give classes together. Meliorn is more into yoga and meditation but we could combine the two."

"That sounds great," Magnus told her, "I really hope it will work out for you both."

She flashed him a bright, pleased smile, before she added:

"I wish mom and dad were as enthusiastic and supportive as you... But when I dropped out of law school six months ago, they weren't too happy with our project."

"Mom and dad wanted her to be a famous lawyer," Max supplied, "But you're so much better at teaching martial arts! I swear, Magnus, she's taught me a lot!"

The little boy scrambled to his feet and dropped into a fighting stance, ready to take on Magnus if he dared to challenge him. Max didn't look that threatening, not when he was wearing shorts and shorts only, not when he nearly slipped in the grass and still, Magnus pretended to cower and hide behind Isabelle.

"Mercy, mercy!" he cried.

"But I haven't even started yet!"

"Play nice Max," Izzy interfered with a grin, "We don't want to scare Magnus away now, do we?"

"Nah," the boy said, sitting down again, "Magnus is nice. He can stay."

Magnus should have felt elated at Max's words, relieved and happy that the boy liked him and was near ready to adopt him, because it was perfect for his - well, mostly Jace's - Plan: after all, if the baby of the family wanted him to stay, who would be cruel enough to disagree? However, Magnus couldn't feel happy about this new development, he just had this painful lump in his throat, because none of it was real. If Max learned the truth or once he heard that his big brother and his loveable boyfriend had gone their separate ways... How would he take the news? Magnus didn't want to do this anymore. Max's words were like an open invitation into the Lightwoods' private life, while Magnus had known nothing but foster families for most of his childhood but this... This felt real and it was too hard to keep up with his role, and yet he had promised Jace... Goodness.

"Thanks," he eventually told Max, pretending to swallow a sip of beer the wrong way in order to justify his rough voice, and then he quickly went back to the topic at hand. "So... Do you think your mother is coming around?"

"She might be," Izzy answered, fighting a smile, just in case she was mistaken. "Dad is still baffled at everything a bit odd that we do but I think it's getting easier for mom... Thanks to Alec, mostly: he paved the way for us."

"He did?" Magnus prompted, as innocently as he could, refraining from glancing at the soldier.

He couldn't show Izzy how deeply interested and invested he was in her brother's story... Not if he wanted to avoid suspiciousness every time he would as much as blink in Alec's direction, at least. Speaking of which, perhaps he should really try to be more subtle, he thought when he realised that in spite of his best efforts, his eyes had still gravitated toward Alec, drawn to him like a beacon. Isabelle didn't seem to notice though, or perhaps she didn't think that it was more than just Magnus' curiosity for the man they were talking about.

"Alec went into the military instead of becoming a doctor," she explained, "Which was our parents' big plan for him, just like they wanted me to study law... And he came out first. He really went on his own path and in doing that, he helped us to do the same."

"I bet that wasn't easy," Magnus whispered.

"There were tears," Max said, "But they were not Alec's."

Magnus decided against asking more about it: he didn't want to get too involved in the Lightwoods' family drama, in case it came back to bite him in the ass later. If nothing good resulted from his and Jace's fake relationship, at least no one would accuse him of knowing too many family secrets and betraying them all. Hopefully. However, the fact that he was already thinking about all the possible negative consequences was telling enough.

"I'm glad your brother got his freedom," Magnus eventually told Alec's younger siblings with a smile, sincere despite the bitter feeling of upcoming doom in his stomach.

"He's stubborn as hell," Izzy replied, laughing as she, too, looked at her brother. "What Alec wants, Alec gets."

Oh, sweet, painful irony. Apparently, the one Alec wanted right now was the one he didn't think he could ever get - not when Jace didn't shut up about how in love they were. Right...

"Babe?" someone called.

It was frightening how quickly Magnus responded to the voice and the pet name, his head snapping upward and his eyes immediately finding Jace by the buffet as if it were the most natural reaction in the world - it really, really wasn't. He allowed himself to feel embarrassed about it for one second and then, he focused on what his friend was doing. The answer was: playing the role of the sweetest boyfriend ever. Jace had two plates balanced in his left hand while his right one held a large spoon, hovering above the salads, cooked vegetables, pastas and the rice displayed in bowls on the buffet.

"Zucchinis or tomatoes?" Jace asked him, before he reconsidered and added, "Or both?"

"Both," Magnus answered without hesitation, smirking as he wondered if his friend would catch the reference and finish the line, and...

"Both is good," Jace agreed with a wink and yep, they were definitively the best platonic and fake boyfriends ever. "The beef is cooked and there are lamb ribs too, chicken is coming after that. What do you want?"

"Lamb. Thanks, love."

Magnus pretended not to notice Isabelle's wide eyes as she unveiled this new layer of her brother's, a caring, soft lover who seemed so domestic with his boyfriend. She looked surprised in a positive way, even more so when Jace brought Magnus' plate to the garden table and pulled his chair back so that he could sit. To be perfectly honest, he didn't expect it either, since this was usually not the way they would proceed at the apartment... More often than not, they ended up sprawled on the couch to eat dinner but even when they ate around the table, pulling each other's chair was so _not_ in their habits that Magnus almost laughed at Jace's gesture. Instead, he kissed his cheek and the blond man's blushing face made his whole evening.

The Lightwoods and guests gathered around the table with their respective plates, Alec abandoning the barbecue while the chicken was kept warm above the embers, and they all raised their glass and cheered, exclamations of _Happy Independence Day!_ echoing around the garden. Magnus didn't do it on purpose - promise, he wasn't staring! - but he caught Alec closing his eyes and halting for a few seconds before he sipped on his beer like everyone else but Max, sticking to alcohol-free lemonade.

Magnus promptly looked down at his plate before the soldier had the time to reopen his eyes and realise that the other man had seen him. The last thing he wanted was to make Alec feel even more uncomfortable by staring at him... He wasn't even aware of it but it seemed like whatever they did, they were doomed to slip and glance at each other, like Romeo and Juliet at the Capulet ball...

The thought made Magnus look at his beer in worry: if he started making this kind of comparisons, maybe he should copy Max and switch to lemonade. He wasn't drunk by any mean, not even slightly buzzed, but he knew that alcohol tended to bring out his most romantic side and he didn't want to risk waxing poetics at the wrong person when he was supposed to love everything about Jace... Although Alec's eyes definitely deserved to have some poem written about them.

Still, Magnus was not going to embarrass himself in public by improvising rhymes about the way those hazel orbs made his knees go weak or how he wished that every word that left Alec's lips could crash against his own mouth. Eager to think of something else before he could start daydreaming, Magnus stabbed one of his penne and turned to Jace to feed him.

"Open up, honey," he whispered, forcing a sweet tone when all he wanted to do was laugh in his friend's face at his surprised expression.

Jace quickly complied though and it was Magnus' turn to open wide eyes when his friend closed his lips around the fork and slowly dragged the pasta into his mouth, never glancing away from Magnus, a teasing spark dancing in his gaze, and to outsiders he probably looked as if he was going to devour his boyfriend once he was done with the pasta.

"Get a room," Izzy muttered in front of them, which broke Jace's concentration and made him giggle, before nearly choking on the penne Magnus had so lovingly fed him.

"Let them be," Jocelyn chimed in with a bright smile, "It's nice to be young and in love..."

"So nice," Jace agreed, putting his hand lightly on Magnus' thigh.

It would have been much easier if Jace and he could have gone from roommates to actual lovers, Magnus thought: their friendly banter, fully mastered after years of living together, seemed to fool everyone and the way they touched or spoke to each other only reinforced their act. They only missed the proper romantic feelings that would have made this whole situation easier to deal with. Jace wouldn't have to lie, for starters, and Magnus wouldn't have a feeling of impending disaster in his gut, not to mention that they could avoid a lot of potential drama since there would be no lie to atone for.

It was too late though, they were never going to fall in love: the thought itself was ridiculous and as much as Magnus loved his friend, he didn't want more and he knew that Jace didn't, either. Besides, maybe it wouldn't have made anything easier: Alec would probably still have been attracted to him and then... Well, Jace and Alec fighting over him didn't sound too pleasant so thinking about _what if's_ and lost occasions seemed useless anyway.

Magnus distracted himself for the rest of the evening, engaging Maryse and Robert - awfully great effort on his part there - in a discussion about the paintings hanging a bit everywhere in the villa, until Max admitted that he didn't like most of them and caused a mini diplomatic incident. At least it made Alec laugh loudly and openly, so Magnus didn't consider it a total failure.

It was nearing midnight when Max yelled that they had to go to the small beach in order to prepare for the fireworks, that Luke volunteered to light up while the others watched a bit further away, safe from any unfortunate mishap. They all strolled down to the private beach and Magnus was grateful for the paper lanterns that showed the way, because he almost tripped over a pine root at the beginning of the path and only stayed upright thanks to Clary.

The first firework exploded in the sky, rain of golden and red pearls, when the young man realised that not all of them had made it to the beach: Alec was missing. He was nowhere in sight and Magnus wondered if maybe he had stayed in the garden to get a head start on the cleaning but... Alec had bought the fireworks himself and he deserved to watch the show with them, so surely the plates and empty glasses could wait?

Glancing at the others, he quickly came to the conclusion that no one would move to get Alec, if they had even noticed his absence: Luke was busy with the fireworks, Max was pointing at every colour in the sky and tugging excitedly on the hem of Izzy's skirt while Maryse, Robert and Jocelyn contemplated the sky with the same admiration, although silent, as the little boy. As for Jace... Where was he? Magnus looked around, wondering if perhaps he was with Alec, but then he found him and... Oh.

Jace was sitting with Clary in the sand, just a bit away from everyone else, and they were talking in hushed tones. If he wasn't mistaken, it was the first time these two could actually get some quiet time together and Magnus wasn't going to ruin his friend's moment with his long-time crush by bothering him about his brother.

He didn't feel too confident in going after Alec all by himself though, not after their eventful morning in the kitchen, but he didn't want to interrupt anyone else... And he didn't want to be asked why he couldn't get the soldier himself. That settled it, then.

Bracing himself, Magnus turned away from the beach and the fireworks, marching between the tall pines and to the garden where, hopefully, Alec wouldn't punch him in the face when he saw him.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and for always being so supportive of this story! I can't give you any detail about the time I'll need until the next update but my ectic days should be over soon... Or so I hope anyway! Until next time~


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm so glad to finally be able to update this chapter, I know you were waiting for it, and I hope you will enjoy it! As always, thank you for all your comments, kudos, bookmarks, subscriptions and Twitter reposts/likes, and for being amazingly kind to me and supportive <3

  


The garden was empty when Magnus came from the beach, fireworks still going off in his back. Alec and Max had chosen them well, they rose high and burst into all kinds of colours that were reflected on the shifting surface of the sea. It made for a beautiful show and Magnus didn't want Alec to miss on it.

However, he didn't really know what to do when he realised that the soldier was somewhere else: should he go after him and talk to him about the morning events at the same time? Or would it be better to leave him to his own thoughts and pretend that nothing had happened the next time they would be in the same room together? No, Magnus needed to talk to him - or at least try to, because he wasn't sure that Alec would agree to listen to him...

Still, if he didn't try, Magnus knew that he would blame himself: maybe nothing positive would come out of their conversation, if it ever happened, but he would rather know for sure that Alec hated him than swim into deep pools of confusion and doubt. Besides, who could speak of the soldier's feelings better than the soldier himself? Maybe he didn't loathe him, in spite of what he must assume was the bad behaviour of his brother's boyfriend.

Now, Magnus wasn't naive enough to still believe that he had any chance to actually start something with Alec once his fake relationship with Jace would end but... They could at least attempt to be friends, couldn't they? Not that he held much hope for this either, though.

With a long sigh, the young man entered the house, keeping his fingers crossed so that Alec would actually be in there, somewhere. Where else could he go anyway? He wasn't in the garden nor on the beach, so it didn't give Magnus many other possibilities. Sure, he had seen the pinewoods that spread a bit further away from the path connecting the garden and the beach together but he wasn't going to wander in there in the middle of the night, alone, and risk to break his neck.

As soon as he stepped into the villa, Magnus knew that he was right and that he would find Alec: loud music betrayed the presence of someone quite clearly. Scratch that, _loud_ didn't describe the volume of the music properly enough. It was thunderous. Magnus didn't manage to recognise it at first but he was able to pinpoint the source of the music and climbed the stairs that led to the bedrooms floor. Logically, this had to come from Alec's... And he froze when he realised that the man's room was located right next to Jace's. Goodness. Magnus had some fucked-up karma.

Now that he had come closer, the young man was finally able to put a name to the notes he was hearing and he understood why it hadn't clicked when the music had first reached his ears: after all, Mozart wasn't usually included in his daily playlists. Magnus had dabbled into classical music once though, so he knew some of the classics and Mozart's Requiem definitely fit among those.

Somehow, the fact that Alec was alone and listening to this didn't reassure him much and he knocked on the door. The hesitance in the sound of his knuckles against the wooden panel was drowned by his desire to see if Alec was alright and eventually, he knocked louder - nearly banged on the door, in the end, certain that the soldier wouldn't hear anything less than that, what with the Requiem at full volume. However, the door opened almost immediately, making him wonder if Alec had been close enough to hear, perhaps hoping that someone would have followed him from the garden in order to check on him.

"I'm fine, don't wo..." Alec started to say, before he noticed who was standing in front of him. "Oh. Magnus."

"Yeah, uh... Surprise?" he said awkwardly.

His discomfort was not just because he didn't know what Alec's reaction to his presence would be, no: Magnus felt his cheeks heat up at the sight that welcomed him but he couldn't look at anyone else than Alec, so... Alec, who was wearing the shorts he'd been wearing all day but had dropped the shirt to reveal his bare, muscular chest. Magnus tried not to stare, not to notice the SEAL trident tattooed above the soldier's left hip, which was one sexy reminder of his job. And then he saw the scars.

Healed bullet holes, too close to each other, under his right shoulder. An indistinct, mangled scar across his ribs. A thin, pink one next to his belly button, as if the tip of a blade had slipped when someone had tried to stab him. Magnus shivered at the thought and finally looked away.

"I... I can leave if you want..." he stuttered, not knowing what to do of Alec's state of undress and musical settings.

"You came here for a reason, didn't you?" Alec shot back, "So come in."

And just like that, he stepped aside so that Magnus could walk in his bedroom, then he pushed the door close, wrapping them in a bubble of loud but slow music. Magnus didn't know what to do, what to say, in this situation that he hadn't expected. He wasn't certain that coming in would turn out to be such a good idea... He rather felt like he was digging his own grave. When Alec headed for his bed and picked up the shirt that he had been wearing earlier, intending to put it back on, Magnus interfered:

"You don't have to get dressed for me, you know? And I say that in the most non-flirting way ever, just so it's clear."

He didn't miss the flash of hesitation across the soldier's face, as if he'd understood the allusion to the kitchen incident but was reluctant to broach the topic. Eventually, Alec spoke again, but just like Magnus thought, he didn't hint at what had happened that morning at all - he did, however, let go of his white shirt.

"You don't mind?" the soldier asked, gesturing at himself, his chest, his scars.

"No," Magnus answered honestly, for his only discomfort at the sight came from the thought that Alec had probably nearly died several times. "They're part of you. You shouldn't be ashamed and hide them."

"I'm not," Alec answered at once, surprising him. "I don't have any problem with my own body. I just... I tend to keep the scars covered around my family. My parents aren't too appreciative of the military life and sometimes, I feel like they don't recognise this... scarred soldier as their son. Not anymore. Besides, Max cries every time he sees those, so... It's better like this for everyone."

Magnus nodded, his heart aching at the thought of sweet, adorable little Max's face marred by tears. He understood though: seeing his big brother leave and not knowing when - if - he would come back had to be pretty terrifying but seeing the scars that proved that he'd gotten hurt on his missions... It was different. In a way, the sight must make Max feel better: his brother had survived. Still, it was also a painful remember of how short life could be and how close Alec had been to death, on multiple occasions.

The soldier glanced at him before he turned away, displaying a few more scars across his back, and he walked to the window from which he could see the dark blanket of the sky and the fireworks exploding. Magnus allowed himself to stare, just for a little while, at his half-naked body and the gorgeous sight it made.

"Why did you come here, Magnus?" Alec asked after a short silence, loudly enough to be heard above the music, although it didn't sound unkind: in truth, the soldier was being way nicer to him than Magnus had expected.

"Well, I..." the young man started, carefully coming closer to the window as well, waiting for any sign from Alec that he was standing too close and overstepping his boundaries - but when he got none, he said, "I was looking for you. Didn't want you to miss the fireworks... But I guess you have your own show."

He gestured at the sight from the window and Alec chuckled. He didn't sound too happy, though.

"Thanks," he answered without looking at Magnus, eyes firmly set on the sky. "I used to love fireworks but... Now I only watch from afar: I can't really stand the noise anymore."

Magnus was about to ask why, what had changed, but he quickly closed his mouth when he glanced at the soldier and caught sight of his scars again. Shit. Of course! What an idiot he was! He'd heard about soldiers' PTSD, how they came home bringing back traumas from overseas as well as painful memories and instinctive reactions to danger. Or what they imagined was danger: a man slipping his hand in the inside pocket of his jacket, someone walking too fast, a sudden shout... Or fireworks echoing, too similar to gunshots.

Magnus thought about how none of the Lightwoods had commented on Alec's absence, how the soldier had opened his door ready to reassure whomever stood on the other side, probably expecting one of his siblings or perhaps even Clary. They had all known from the start that Alec wouldn't join them so of course they hadn't made a big deal out of it... And there was Magnus, twisting the knife in the wound, babbling like an idiot about how sad it would be if Alec didn't get to see the fireworks.

He shouldn't have come. He should have trusted that Alec knew what he was doing, that he wasn't just avoiding them all - or him more specifically - and then at least he wouldn't have made the soldier talk about all this. Magnus didn't want to be the reason Alec got lost in his own head, reliving awful memories. Still, when the young man looked at him, probably concerned about his long silence, Magnus couldn't help but say:

"The noise... That's what the music is for, right?"

"Yes," Alec answered, turning his head toward the sky again. "It drowns some of the other sounds... It helps a lot."

"But... The Requiem?" Magnus asked again, feeling his eyebrows rise in a dubitative frown against his own will. "Nothing more... I don't know, uplifting?"

"It's powerful music," Alec said with a tiny smile, "Full of energy and, oddly, life. I like it. Besides, it honours the dead and... It reminds me of friends we lost on missions. I think it's fitting."

Magnus didn't fail to hear the sudden sadness in the soldier's voice at the evocation of his lost men and he shuffled his feet awkwardly, feeling guilty for asking about the significance of the music and making Alec mention that private part of his life. Although, if he had felt free to talk about it, however briefly, maybe it meant that the young man didn't mind.

"I'm sorry," Magnus told him nevertheless. "You must have seen terrible things."

"I have," Alec said softly, and when he glanced at Magnus, he had the eyes of an angel in hell.

His voice was soft, too soft, barely audible above the music. He almost sounded as if he hadn't actually wanted Magnus, a civilian blissfully unaware of the hard realities faced by soldiers, to catch his words and start to imagine what he might have gone through. Whatever thoughts or images he could possibly conjure up though, they would never get close to the real deal and he knew as much.

"Aren't you afraid?" Magnus asked in a breath.

"Sometimes," Alec answered, then he trailed off.

He looked at the other man and bit his lip, hesitating, wondering what he could tell him that wouldn't get him to run away. Eventually, he added:

"I'm scared of losing people, mostly. We... We're like brothers and... It's hard, when it happens. We lost Hodge a few months ago and sometimes... It feels like he's still there and then I realise that... And I'm scared of all these terrible things but above all, I'm afraid of the day I won't find them so terrible anymore. I don't want that, I don't... I don't want to get used to human nonsense and cruelty."

The soldier abruptly shut up then, he looked away, and he took a deep breath. Magnus didn't know what to tell him, because there was nothing that he could relate to: they didn't have the same life - thankfully for the both of them - and he couldn't find the right words to give Alec the support he deserved. So he kept his mouth shut, because he figured that saying nothing at all was better than saying the wrong thing.

The soldier didn't seem to mind and they remained silent like that for a while, until Magnus' thoughts strayed and he became acutely aware of Alec, half-naked next to him as they kept staring at the fireworks. The soldier's bare skin seemed to be glowing with the colours that illuminated the sky, playing on the contours of his muscles, on his scars, on his tattoo. It made it hard not to stare and Magnus actually welcomed the moment the fireworks stopped, not too long afterwards, when he was finally able to refocus and stop glancing at Alec every now and then.

Mozart was still playing. As much as Magnus would have liked to stay, he didn't think that he should push his luck around Alec: he had already gotten more than he deserved by being so easily accepted in his room. Maybe having someone to talk to, someone to distract him, had helped? Even if only to serve that purpose, Magnus was glad that he had been there. Still, he said:

"I think I should leave now..."

"As you wish," Alec told him, neither encouraging him to go nor holding him back, before he gestured between them. "You know, this... It was good. Speaking, I mean. It's better than..."

He went quiet but Magnus understood what he was talking about, even when the soldier didn't dare to say it out loud. Did he want to pretend like nothing had happened? It wouldn't last, there were so many unspoken things and tensions between them that it would probably explode sooner or later - and based on his luck in the last twenty-four hours, Magnus was willing to bet that it would all go down during a nice family dinner, just to ruin everyone's fun... So sue him, but he would rather settle it right there and then instead of waiting for the whole family to be gathered around them. Well...

"I'm sorry about this morning," Magnus blurted out before he could think twice and decide against speaking up. "It was wrong and I didn't want to..."

"Don't," Alec interrupted him, staring at his feet in shame, "I'm sorry if you thought... You must have seen the way I was looking at you yesterday."

Magnus' heart nearly stopped, which was an inconvenient time for that, really, but... He hadn't dreamed these words, had he? The young man had just admitted that he had been staring at Magnus and he had probably liked what he saw, so... Basically, Alec had implied that he liked him, right?

"I'm sorry about that," Alec was saying when Magnus latched onto his words again. "I didn't want to make you feel like you had to... do something. If I made you feel pressured in any way, I..."

"Stop," the young man told him, horrified, when he realised that Alec was trying to twist the events so that Magnus would look like the victim. "That's not what happened and you know it. It was my fault and..."

He became silent when Alec shook his head.

"Can we stop talking about this?" he asked, closing his eyes for a brief moment. "Please? If you say that it was you, that you really wanted me... It will make things worse."

Speechless, the young man nodded, understanding what Alec didn't want to say: to think that Magnus would want him for real would be a disaster, because it meant that the only person standing in their way was Jace. From what he'd seen and heard, mostly from his roommate, the brothers loved each other and he was certain that Alec wouldn't want to do anything to awaken jealousy or bitterness between them.

Now would be a good time to come clean, Magnus realised, they were discussing this touchy topic and nothing would be easier than telling Alec that he had nothing to fear regarding his relationship with his brother, because nothing real was going on between Magnus and Jace. And yet... He couldn't just go ahead and tell him everything, springing this on Jace without warning.

"If the circumstances were different..." Magnus started, only to shut up when Alec pushed a finger against his lips.

"Don't say it," he begged, "Please, don't say it."

Eyes suddenly widening, the soldier seemed to realise what he'd done in the spur of the moment and he quickly stepped back, worry that he'd overstepped etched on his face. Taking pity on the young man who didn't know where to look anymore, ashamed of saying some things and acting in a totally opposite way, Magnus took a few steps back as well.

"I'll leave you alone now...," he told the soldier, "Goodnight, Alec."

Grateful eyes finally met his own and Magnus knew that he'd made the right call. Alec needed some space, time to think and pull himself together. This was a delicate night for him after all, and not just because of Magnus.

"Goodnight, Magnus," Alec eventually answered.

Deciding not to wait around any longer, Magnus left the soldier's bedroom and carefully closed the door behind himself. He took a deep breath, feeling himself shake on the exhale and he was surprised to find that his eyes were prickling. When he rubbed his fingertips at the corner of his left eye, they came away a bit wet. Shit.

Who would have thought that he would get so emotional over goodnight wishes? Because those were the reasons for his tears - how stupid of him! But it sounded so easy, so natural, that Magnus could imagine Alec and him in bed, saying this every night. A fantasy that would stay just that, a pleasant dream, if they kept going on the road they'd taken so far. And he didn't want that.

Suddenly furious at himself for everything that had gone wrong with Alec, Magnus grabbed his pyjamas in Jace's bedroom and stormed in the bathroom to change for the night, too emotionally exhausted to go back outside and play the perfect boyfriend for the Lightwoods. He brushed his teeth with so little care that he ended up with bleeding gums but even that didn't manage to concern him: his only worry went to Alec.

Magnus decided that he was going to have a serious discussion with Jace about telling the truth, at least to Alec. The soldier didn't deserve to beat himself over actions that really weren't as bad as he thought they were - honestly, neither he nor Magnus deserved to be all sad and glance at each other with desperate longing. The truth couldn't wait anymore.

Mumbling several attempts at starting this specific conversation, trying to find the best one to persuade Jace to agree with him, Magnus went back to their bedroom and sat on the bed, firmly set on waiting for his friend until the end of the night if needed. It was late already and the fireworks were over, so Jace shouldn't take long... Hopefully.

But Mozart was still playing in the room next door, although not as loudly as before now that Alec didn't risk to hear the fireworks anymore, and Magnus' eyelids were growing heavier by the second. In spite of his best effort, it was a lost battle from the start and even as he tried to blink and stay awake, he felt himself slip in a light sleep, sagging on the mattress.

He didn't know how long he was out until Jace actually came back: Magnus vaguely noticed the sound of the door opening and closing, then he felt his friend's weight on the left side of the bed.

"Where were you?" Jace asked in the silence of the bedroom, and that was when Magnus realised that no sound was coming from Alec's room anymore. "I thought you were watching the fireworks with us and then..."

Magnus could have told him everything then, and he would have, had his brain not been lost in a comfortable, cottony haze. In fact, he didn't even remember what he was supposed to tell him, not right then, not when he was in bed with bleary eyes and warm planet-printed sheets. He just knew that it had something to do with Alec and Jace would have to satisfy himself with that.

"Alec has great abs," he mumbled sleepily.

He heard Jace's surprised gasp turning into chuckles and then, feeling quite happy with himself, Magnus fell asleep for good.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a litle extra information: Hodge and Alec were close friends, Hodge was actually the first to stand up and hug Alec after he came out to his unit. Did I make you sad? :(  
> Still, thank you for reading! I'll try to update the next chapter soon, I think it's about time a certain soldier learns the truth ;)  
> Until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Here it comes, the long-awaited chapter... It doesn't need many words so I leave you to it! Enjoy :)

  


As soon as Magnus opened his eyes, he knew that he'd overslept and that it was later than he usually woke up, at seven o'clock. Jace was still fast asleep next to him but that wasn't surprising at all: without an alarm or Magnus' so helpful screams in his ears, the blond wouldn't stir before at least ten, on good days. He'd almost miss an exam because of that, once... Before his perfect roommate kicked his ass out of the bed and sent him on his merry way with a homemade bagel and a coffee, extra strong.

Rolling to his side, Magnus blinked a few times when the change of position had him facing the morning sun. Grunting, he struggled with the bed sheets before pushing himself off the mattress and stretching his back a little. Thankfully this whole show would be over soon: it might only be the second night but the narrow bed was starting to hurt his back badly, as if he'd already spent countless nights in it.

Jace didn't move when Magnus headed for the door, not that he'd expected otherwise, and he tiptoed down the stairs. He didn't want to wake up anyone else, assuming his roommate and he weren't the last ones to get out of bed anyway, and he briefly thought of Alec, who probably hadn't slept well after his emotional evening.

Just like the previous day, Magnus was planning on making coffee for both Jace and himself, except that this time he knew where to find the supplies thanks to Isabelle. Also, he wanted to put Jace in a good mood for their upcoming discussion... Although he wasn't certain that he really needed to: Jace might have terrible ideas but he was a good person. He would certainly agree with him once he realised just how far gone Alec and Magnus were on each other... He didn't know everything that had happened between them yet, he knew nothing of their almost-kiss and the way Alec had confided in him the previous night, but Magnus didn't doubt that his friend would understand exactly why they couldn't withhold the truth any longer once he'd caught up with all the events.

Stepping into the kitchen with the confidence that this day would be a turning point for Alec and him, either with positive or negative results, Magnus faltered when he saw Maryse and Robert sitting at the kitchen table and having breakfast together.

"H... Hi," he spluttered, "Good morning!"

"Hello Magnus," Maryse answered with a genuine smile that immediately made him relax.

However, Robert nodded at him but he didn't say anything, too busy staring at Magnus' bare feet and the red nail polish that adorned his toes. That, combined with his short pyjama pants and the tank top he was wearing, that his friend Catarina had probably forgotten one night she slept over, didn't impress Robert very much.

The man didn't comment on his attire though, only brought his coffee mug to his lips and swallowed long, silent sips. Was he keeping the remarks to himself in order not to argue with his wife or had he learned to shut up when no one asked for his opinion? Magnus didn't voice his question, of course, because he had manners, and he put on his best contrite smile to go with his next words.

"I'm so, so sorry about yesterday," he apologised, allowing himself to start on his and Jace's coffees as he spoke, "I didn't mean to disappear on you like I did but I was really tired..."

"Don't mention it," Maryse waved his concern away with her elegant hands, "We spent the whole day outside, playing games... It's only natural that you were tired. I called it a night a bit early too, I just waited until Luke was done with the fireworks."

Magnus nodded and glanced at Robert but when it became clear that he wasn't going to add anything to his wife's words, he asked:

"So, where's everyone?"

"Max is still asleep," Robert immediately said, as if speaking of his younger boy was a topic that he could broach safely, contrarily to everything that had to do with one of his older sons and his boyfriend.

"Luke and Isabelle are nursing their hangovers on the beach," Maryse added with an amused snort, "And Jocelyn is taking pictures, I think."

Magnus laughed at that, although the very idea of spending hard mornings like these on the beach was beyond his comprehension: it would make the headache worse, wouldn't it? The sound of the sea crashing ashore and the feeling of being completely drunk as the waves went back and forth... Ugh. No. He would be sick in less than five minutes.

Fortunately for him, he hadn't drunk much and felt well awake and ready for his important face-to-face with Jace, so he grabbed their coffees, told Maryse and Robert that he would see them later and had a tired boyfriend to tend to, and then he went back upstairs. He found Jace in nearly the same position as he'd left him, except that the blond had taken all the available space after Magnus had walked out of the bedroom. He didn't blame him: that bed was awfully tiny when you had to share it between two grown-up men.

Sitting on the desk in front of the window, Magnus watched his friend with a small smile as he grunted and slowly came to, nose scrunching up at the scent of coffee, and a lazy grin appeared on his face.

"Coffee..." he drawled, eyelids fluttering open, "I love you."

Not sure whether Jace was addressing the coffee or him, Magnus rolled his eyes and patted the spot next to him on the wooden desk, inviting his friend to join him. He knew his roommate too well to risk having a conversation with Jace still lying in bed: he'd go back to sleep in a few minutes, tops.

"Get your ass over here, lover boy," Magnus called him, "We need to talk."

"So early in the morning?" Jace asked with a sigh, although he was already rolling out of bed, no doubt drawn to the fuming cup of coffee.

"Yep," his friend confirmed, "And it's about damn time."

Vanquished, Jace rested his hands on the desk and pushed on his arms to hoist himself up, sitting next to Magnus and immediately grabbing one of the two coffees. His roommate gave him a few minutes of tender loving with his cup, then he cleared his throat.

"So..." he started, "Are you awake?"

"Yeah, thanks to you," Jace groaned without heat. "What's up? Is it about Alec?"

"How... How do you know?"

"You said something about him last night, when I went to bed... I assumed you'd sort of talked to him yesterday night?"

"What did I say?" Magnus asked in concern, "I don't remember..."

Holy crap, he hadn't said anything dirty, had he? He hadn't voiced any of his fantasies or worse, called Jace by his brother's name and thrust against him in his sleep? No, no, that last one was impossible: if he had, his friend wouldn't be sitting next to him with that calm expression on his face.

"You were pretty out of it," Jace excused his hazy memory with a smile, "I think you were half-asleep already but when I came in, you said something about Alec having great abs."

"Well, he does," Magnus shot back, refusing to feel ashamed of his sleepy confession when he had said nothing but the absolute truth.

"Yes," the blond agreed easily, "Although I'm surprised that you even saw his abs at all."

Of course Jace knew about the reason why Alec kept his shirts on when he was around people... Well then, perhaps he already had an inkling of the circumstances in which the famous abs-sighting could have happened. Maybe he wouldn't be too surprised by the recent developments?

"Alec and I almost kissed," Magnus told his friend without beating around the bush anymore.

He expected the stunned silence on Jace's part so he wasn't surprised that his roommate didn't react at first, but then he said, sounding confused:

"You almost kissed... But you didn't. But you saw his abs. But you were in our room? How do you get so close to Alec you see him naked but you still manage to go back to our bed and not kiss him?"

Did Jace just question his capacity to resist a hot, naked man? Well, he wasn't wrong.

"It happened at different times," Magnus admitted. "We almost kissed yesterday morning. The abs were last night. But he wasn't completely naked! I wanted to check on him because he wasn't with us for the fireworks and he was in his room with his shirt off and..."

He trailed off, losing himself in the memory of Alec and he standing side by side in front of the window, watching the fireworks together as Mozart's Requiem echoed in the background. This could have been a romantic evening. Instead, it had been heavy with unspoken truths and Alec's sadness.

"You talked about his scars, didn't you?" Jace asked, although he didn't even wait for an answer before he added, knowing his best friend too well, "I bet you didn't mind them... Am I right?"

Well, he didn't really need an answer for that either, did he?

"Your brother is so easy to fall for," Magnus whispered softly, wrapping both of his hands around the hot cup of coffee.

Jace chuckled at that, a quiet sound full of compassion for his friend, and he looped an arm around Magnus' shoulder to hug him.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I wasn't... I didn't think that you and Alec would have something serious going on."

"We don't," Magnus told him, trying not to pay attention to the way his heart was tightening in his chest at the thought. "I know that he likes me but I have no idea if we could... I don't even know how he'll react when you and I break up: I bet he wouldn't want to date me for fear of hurting your feelings."

Jace didn't answer and really, that was enough for Magnus to understand that he was right. Alec and he were doomed to fail and all he had to do was to be happy with the not-kiss and the hour they had spent in each other's company the previous night, when Alec had shared a little of his burden.

"Well..." Jace eventually said, a bit hesitant, "I guess we could start by telling him the truth about us and see where it leads the both of you?"

Magnus looked up so fast that his whole body jerked and his coffee sloshed dangerously close to the edge of his cup.

"Really?" he asked, eyes and heart filled with hope, "You would be okay with that? Because you said the other day..."

"I know what I said," Jace winced, "But I told you, I didn't imagine that you and Alec would go this far... If I had, we would have come up with a plan B earlier."

"What's that plan B?" Magnus asked, still not believing his own ears.

Jace shrugged and his roommate chuckled, realising that the blond man didn't actually have one. They would just have to make things up as needed, apparently, and they couldn't even foresee Alec's reaction, which quite a lot of things depended on. So, even if they came clean, it didn't mean the end of Magnus' problem... Hopefully, this wouldn't result in more of a disaster than it already was, even though it wouldn't be an easy situation to deal with either.

Still, they'd gotten away with their act so far - Magnus was even worried that everyone had believed them so quickly and without doubting them: did they make such a convincing couple? The thought frightened him a little, to be honest.

"So we tell him the truth?" the young man asked Jace, just to be sure that they were on the same page.

"Yes. I don't know what else we could possibly do," his friend answered softly, between two avid gulps of coffee. "I don't actually want you to be pining after each other because of me, you know that, right?"

"I'm perfectly able to pine without you," Magnus joked, before he added seriously, "I know that, though. Thanks for agreeing to this... Listen, I think we should speak to Clary as well. You love her and if we tell Alec, then it's only fair that we tell her the truth too."

Jace nodded, although he didn't look too excited at the prospect of letting his childhood friend know about their original plan, and he quickly voiced his concern:

"I don't know which one of Clary or Alec will kill us first..."

"Maybe they'll team up," Magnus suggested on a light tone, although he didn't feel much more confident than Jace. "And if we tell them the truth and it doesn't work out..."

"Maybe we could actually date."

"Not in your dreams."

  


  


Jace and Magnus had agreed that they would each go searching for their potential other half in order to reveal how they had tricked them for more than twenty-four hours already - which sounded really bad so they'd better come up with another opening line - and of course, Magnus didn't manage to find Alec.

He did manage to stumble upon Max though, and the boy insisted that he played a card game with him and his parents. Magnus was weak in front of the kid's big and imploring eyes so he said yes, which was how he found himself sitting in the grass of the garden with Maryse, Robert and their youngest son, playing cards.

Had Magnus mentioned his fucked-up karma before? Because he sure got a reminder of it when Alec and Izzy came out of the pinewoods and into the garden a few minutes after the young man started playing - which, _what?!_ Magnus had looked for the soldier everywhere and now that he had found him, he couldn't speak freely anymore! How was that fair?

The young man hoped that Jace got luckier than him... At least one of them had to succeed in their new plan of telling the truth to Clary and Alec! However, Magnus knew that his best friend had failed too as soon as he saw him storm into the garden, looking upset.

"You, me, inside," the blond managed to say before he grabbed his wrist and led him back into the villa.

"My God, you two are insatiable!" Izzy shouted behind them.

Great, now everyone would think that they were going at it like rabbits. Yet, Magnus allowed Jace to drag him to the living-room where, after checking that no one was there to eavesdrop on them, he collapsed on the couch and brought his friend down with him.

"What are you doing?" Magnus asked, his voice muffled against Jace's large chest.

"Suffering and using you as my Teddy bear," the blond muttered.

Ouch.

"I take it you spoke to Clary and it didn't go well?" Magnus prodded at the topic carefully.

"I didn't even get to speak," Jace complained, "I mean, I just mentioned your name and you know what? She told me not to fuck up this relationship, because you're great and we look cute and happy together. How was I supposed to tell her the truth after that? Magnus, how is this our life?"

"Well..." the young man drawled, "Once upon a time, there was a blond man named Jace who couldn't get his mother to quit asking about his love life. Thus, he..."

"Okay, okay," Jace interrupted him, shoving him away with a pout. "I get it, it's my fault."

"Oh, it is," Magnus agreed, wholeheartedly. "And for the record..."

"I know, you said it was a stupid idea as soon as I suggested it," Jace finished his sentence, rolling his eyes at the same time, although he looked a bit desperate. "Sorry. I think I understand your own situation way better... I mean, Clary is supportive as hell while Alec would prefer that we weren't dating at all, so it's not the same, but... Sorry I got you into this mess."

Jace looked so dejected and apologetic that Magnus couldn't resist wrapping him into a tight hug, that his friend greedily returned.

"It's okay," he whispered in Jace's ear. "We'll figure it out. We still have to tell Alec... Maybe it will work better with him?"

Jace didn't answer, simply because he couldn't promise Magnus that his brother's reaction would be positive. They couldn't avoid a conversation with him though: the more they waited, the more uncomfortable it would get to tell him the truth.

"Let's go back," Magnus suggested.

Tugging on Jace's hand until he was standing on his two feet, Magnus then stepped into his friend's personal space and ran his hands through his hair, mussing up the blond strands. Satisfied with his work, he then proceeded to open the two top buttons of Jace's shirt.

"What are you doing?" the blond echoed his earlier question.

"Making you look like we were making out," Magnus answered as if it were the most logical thing in the world, while he messed up his own hair. "After Izzy's comment, I'm sure they expect us to come back a bit... ruffled. Now lick your lips, because I'm not doing that for you."

Once their mouths looked shiny and swollen enough, Jace took Magnus' hand in his own and they slowly made their way back to the garden. They didn't have the time to actually leave the villa though: Alec spotted them before they stepped outside and the smile he had been sporting faded as soon as his eyes settled on their joined hands - and just like that, he turned away and left.

"Did he just..." Jace started, letting out a sound of surprise, "He's got it bad."

"Yeah," Magnus whispered, voice rough, feeling guilty for Alec's heartbreak every time he as much as glanced at Jace and him. "Look, this can't wait anymore, we have to talk to him. Grab your brother, I'll be waiting in his bedroom."

"His bedroom? Are you sure that's a good idea?" the blond enquired.

"Yes," Magnus said, his tone firm. "Familiar territory, yada yada, he'll be more relaxed. Now go!"

Jace didn't need to be told twice: he sprang forward and dashed after his brother while Magnus turned away and climbed the stairs two steps at a time, his whole body shaking with anticipation. There would never be a perfect moment to tell Alec everything he needed to know so it might as well happen sooner rather than later.

Slipping into the soldier's bedroom, Magnus went to the window like the previous night, but he could not see the garden from there, so he didn't have any way to know when the siblings would arrive. If they even did. Jace had better chances to get Alec to follow him than Magnus would have, had he been the one to run after the soldier; still, he wasn't certain that the blond would manage to convince his brother. Magnus felt like he waited an eternity but finally, Jace entered the bedroom, Alec hot on his heels.

The soldier froze as soon as he caught sight of Magnus and he glanced between Jace and him a few times, before he took a step back and said:

"Absolutely not."

"What?" Jace asked, "Alec, wait..."

"I told you," the young man interrupted his brother, now looking Magnus in the eyes as he spoke on an accusatory tone, "I told you I didn't share, so I'm not..."

"We're not here to ask something like that," Magnus told him, his hands raised in front of him in hopes to placate the soldier, who apparently thought they were going to suggest an unsavoury sexual arrangement. "I'm a one-soul-at-a-time kind of guy myself, so..."

"Then what is going on?" Alec barked, hiding his sudden emotional vulnerability behind aggressiveness.

That was it. Magnus had prayed that this moment would come, prayed that he'd be able to tell Alec the truth, but he had never actually thought about _how_ he would tell him. Was there even a right way to admit their trickery?

Jace, bless him, probably sensed his internal turmoil and decided to take one for the team - that is, he braced himself to drop the bomb instead of Magnus.

"Magnus and I aren't dating," he said flatly.

His words seemed to echo in the bedroom, loud and world-shattering for Alec, who looked at them as if they'd grown a second head.

"What?" he asked, confused, not knowing what to understand - and how could he, when he had witnessed his brother and Magnus being all lovey-dovey in their words, their gestures?

It didn't make any sense for the soldier so Magnus decided to explain, as best as he could, and he aimed for a clear and short explanation but instead, he started to ramble.

"We aren't dating," he repeated, in hopes that Alec would realise the implications of such an announcement the second time over, "It was just a scheme. Maryse didn't stop bothering Jace about his love life so he decided that we should pretend to date, make your whole family fall in love with me and then we would break up and Jace would be so depressed that no one would ask him about a partner anymore. The point is, we're not dating. We are best friends but that doesn't mean I'd date him. I wouldn't. You get that, right? I mean, yeah, he's good-looking and he's funny but I prefer my men tall, dark and handsome and..."

"Magnus," Jace interrupted him gently, before his friend could say any other stupidity.

"Yep. Shutting up now," the young man muttered, resisting the urge to face-palm.

"You're not dating," Alec repeated slowly.

Jace and Magnus nodded fervently at the same time.

"You're... straight?" Alec asked, still slowly, even a bit hesitant now, and if Magnus interpreted the expression in his eyes properly, the soldier didn't know whether he should be angry or not.

Still, twin nods answered him again.

"And you pretended to be gay, to come out, and the worst you got for that was reluctant acceptance?" Alec asked again, brows arched up, "While I had to face mom's and dad's homophobia, when they told me it was just a phase, when they tried to introduce me to a girl hoping to _fix_ me?"

"Alec..." Jace started, taking the few steps necessary to close all distance between him and his brother, resting his hands on the taller man's stiff shoulders. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel like that, I wanted... I thought if mom and dad saw that I was happy with a man, they would start to be more acceptant toward you and... I'm sorry."

Magnus didn't dare to speak, waiting for Alec to explode, and he could see in Jace's posture that he expected the same reaction. Yet, when the soldier took a deep breath, they thought it would be alright.

"At least now we know that they could be kinder than they were to me if someone else ever came out in our family," Alec grumbled.

"I guess," Jace whispered, not a hundred percent sure yet that his brother wasn't going to punch him.

His uncertainty was legit, because when Alec spoke next, the blond paled at his words.

"Leave."

Magnus had never felt so uncomfortable in his life before, now that he was witnessing the drama between the brothers unfold in front of his eyes, feeling like a third wheel. The soldier still hadn't said anything to him and he didn't know if he should just obey as well and follow Jace, who looked close to tears.

"Alec..." Jace pleaded, "I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"Jace," Alec cut him off, a bit more gently this time, "Please, get out. We'll talk about this later. You made your point, you're not dating and right now, that's all that matters. Because if he allows me to, I'm going to kiss Magnus senseless and I'd prefer that you weren't here to see it."

Magnus' heart jumped at that and he looked at Alec with lips parted in shock, hoping, praying that he wasn't misunderstanding this, that Alec meant what he'd just said. Because if he did, then...

"Oh," Jace squeaked, "Sure."

Frankly, Magnus had never seen his roommate run away so fast, not even when a furious duck had chased him around the park where they had decided to study for their exams. He watched with a smile dancing on his lips as his friend left the room and closed the door in his wake, and then he looked back at Alec. The soldier was standing closer now, staring at him as if he couldn't get enough of his face, as if he feared that this was just a dream, as if he wanted to engrave Magnus' features in his memory forever. The young man didn't remember anyone looking at him like that before and his heart threatened to stop, overwhelmed by the intensity in Alec's eyes, by what he didn't say with his words but with his gaze.

Raising hesitant fingers, the soldier brushed his hand over Magnus' cheek, warm fingertips trailing on his skin and down to his mouth, a playful thumb caressing his lower lip.

"Can I..." Alec started, still hesitant in spite of the instinctive forwardness of his fingers.

"Yes," Magnus breathed out, "Alec, kiss me."

The soldier complied, one hand shifting to cup Magnus' neck while the other caught his waist and pressed him closer, and then they were kissing, hungry mouths discovering each other, hearts beating fast as they finally, finally gave in to their desires, and Magnus moaned against Alec's lips.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) The next one might take longer to come, this weekend is a weekend of celebration in my hometown so I won't have much time to write. Until next time~


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on the last chapter, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! Your feedback through kudos, bookmarks, subscriptions and all your comments is amazing, thank you for being so supportive <3 I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well, picking up straight after Alec's and Magnus' lips meet. Enjoy!

  


Eyes closed, Magnus savoured the way Alec's lips moved against his own, demanding, and the way his hands moved, clumsy in their haste to touch him, gripping the back of his t-shirt, angling his neck just right. Alec was taller and needed to stoop so that he could kiss him as deeply as he wanted to, and Magnus revelled in the keen whimper the soldier let out as he parted his lips for him.

Breathing heavy, fingers tangled in the man's dark hair, Magnus kissed back, chasing Alec's mouth with his own, as if he never wanted to end this. And he didn't. Alec was kissing him like his life depended on it, like it was the last time he would ever get to do this, like it was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and Magnus couldn't step back.

They had to break away eventually but even then, they did so slowly, lips tingling, and Alec let out a shaky breath, his fingers clenching on Magnus' shoulders. It felt like waking up from a dream, their bodies not quite sure of what to do next, go back to the warmth of their embrace or accept that it was over for now.

Neither of them dared to speak at first, for fear of ruining the moment or say the wrong thing but Magnus needed to know, he needed the reassurance that this kiss wasn't doomed to remain a one-time event - because he wanted more, all of Alec, or at least as much as the soldier would feel comfortable giving him.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, not quite managing to look away from Alec.

"I'm good," the young man replied on the same tone, a lopsided smile making his lips curl up, his fingers brushing down Magnus' arms until he could hold his hands. "I'm perfect."

"That you are," Magnus agreed, laughing when Alec gaped at him, his smile turning dumbfounded. "Sorry, too soon?"

"There's nothing like too soon," the soldier groaned, "If I had known you weren't really with Jace, I'd have done this two days ago."

"I promise I wouldn't have pushed you away," Magnus said softly, still with a smile, although he was also deadly serious. "I'm sorry about the whole act, though. You didn't deserve that."

Alec heaved a sigh, a bit sad, a bit resigned, and he tugged on Magnus' arm until he followed him a few steps away, until they could sit on the bed side by side. The soldier was still holding his hands and it felt like the most natural progression, even though they had been valiantly trying to ignore their attraction to each other barely twenty minutes prior.

"I guess we need to talk about that," Alec said, before he tilted his head to the side, eyes widening with curiosity - and a bit of concern. "You and Jace... You never dated? At all? You're really... just best friends?"

"Yeah," Magnus confirmed, "Roommates turned best friends but never anything else. And I'm such a good friend I let myself be involved in this mess for his sake. I'm an idiot."

"Or just a great friend," Alec nuanced with a chuckle. "But it seems like this mess turned out okay, after all..."

Following his gaze, Magnus realised that the soldier was looking in dazed wonder at their joined hands - and really, who was he to tell Alec otherwise? This wasn't over though, they had tons of matters to address, together and with Jace as well, but at least now they had each other. Right?

"I like you," Magnus told the young man, glancing at him with sudden bashfulness, even though their lips had been locked together a few minutes ago. "I'd like to see where this goes, if... If you feel up to it too?"

"I'm all in," Alec told him, voice firm, surprising Magnus with his raw honesty, before he smiled. "I don't know what you did to me when we met but... Since then, knowing that you were so close but so out of reach at the same time... I felt like I was going crazy."

Magnus bit his lips and stared at his feet for a while, feeling like the greatest asshole of all times. He knew that Alec didn't mean to twist the knife in the wound, that he couldn't imagine the effect his words had on Magnus and how they made his level of guilt rise and go through the roof. The soldier was just saying things as they were - and it was good, after these lies, they needed some sincere communication - but he still felt like he didn't deserve this, holding hands with Alec, kissing him, not after the pain the young man had gone through because of Jace and him. To be honest, he wasn't even sure that he wasn't still asleep next to his best friend and dreaming of what could be.

And yet, this, this miracle... It had to be real. Alec's hand was warm in his own, his lips had felt soft and adventurous against his mouth, and Magnus didn't think that he had the required imagination to make up the emotions he'd experienced as they shared their first kiss.

"I'm so sorry," he eventually whispered, knowing that even though Jace had apologised to Alec, he still hadn't, not really. "It wasn't easy for me to play Jace's boyfriend, because I... I know it doesn't compare but I hated to see you suffer every time Jace and I smiled at each other or... Well. I wanted to tell you the truth from the start but..."

"Jace is stubborn?" Alec suggested when he realised that Magnus was looking for the proper way to explain why it had taken them so long to come clean.

"Yeah," Magnus chuckled. "And I didn't know what would happen if you knew... What you'd think of us, of your _brother_ , for doing this. We had planned on keeping up the act as long as we stayed over and then we'd break up but we had never... We never discussed the possibility of telling anyone."

"Sounds like Jace," Alec agreed with an amused smile, although he rolled his eyes as well. "He can't plan anything thoroughly, there's always something that goes south in the end... Guess this time _I_ was the bump in the road, though. But... Does he really hope that you two are going to break up and no one will bother him about that? Ask how he feels? He'll have to keep lying for a while..."

Magnus nodded with an embarrassed smile. Jace's plan had taken the road down to failure from the start and he knew it, but Alec pointing out everything that hadn't been weighed and thought well enough was just awkward - for Jace, mind you, not for Magnus himself.

"What can I say?" Magnus chuckled, "I tried to make him see reason but he is still a hundred percent certain that it is going to work, that we'll make everyone believe that we aren't together anymore, once we get back home... He thinks that we will go on with our lives and then, he'll be able to go after Clary."

Alec furrowed his eyebrows at that but it only lasted a few seconds: his expression quickly morphed into understanding and he started to laugh.

"So that's what it was really about!" he exclaimed, "Clary?"

"Well..." Magnus drawled, not sure of what Alec knew about the redhead and his brother exactly. "Not just her, Jace did mean to support you by pretending to date me but... Kind of?"

"It has always been her," Alec whispered, a smile still ghosting on his lips as he lost himself in his memories. "When we were kids, she was all he could talk about, it was... annoying, to put it mildly."

Trying not to focus too much on Alec's gorgeous face as he recalled Jace's and Clary's shenanigans as children, Magnus decided to ask the question that had popped in his mind as soon as he'd met the red-haired girl:

"Does she even like him? As more than a friend, I mean?" he added, "She seemed really happy for him when Jace introduced me as his boyfriend, so..."

Alec hesitated instead of answering right away but when Magnus started to stammer that maybe it was none of his business and that he shouldn't pry, the soldier interrupted him by pecking his lips. _That_ was super effective.

"It's not that," Alec told him gently, smirking at his dazzled expression. "To be honest, I don't really know where they stand today. Since I'm overseas most of the year, I tend to miss parts of my family's lives and when I come back, I just... I don't ask much. It's not that I'm not interested but..."

Alec trailed off, looking frustrated as he bit his lips, struggling to explain exactly how he felt. Magnus waited for a little while, unwilling to put words in the soldier's mouth, but when it became clear that Alec didn't know how to express himself, he quietly suggested:

"You feel like asking just highlights how much you've missed?"

He knew that he was right when Alec raised two eyes filled with curiosity and unconsciously tightened his hold on his hands, that he still hadn't let go of. Not that Magnus was complaining.

"That's... Yes," he stammered, "H... How do you know?"

"I don't," Magnus answered softly, "I mean, not like you. But I grew up in the foster-care system and I got into quite a lot of families. Some were bad but a few were really nice. There were pictures of their kids in frames and each one told a story but... I never asked about those. Because I wasn't part of them and asking just... It reminded me that I wasn't their actual kid. I didn't like it."

The soldier blinked at him in silence, at a loss for words much like Magnus had been the previous night, when they had spoken about Hodge and the pain Alec felt every time he remembered that his friend was no more. It didn't feel weird though, neither of them were trying to find something to say, and Alec's warm hand in his own told him that the young man wasn't ignoring what he'd just shared with him. He had listened and he would remember.

When Alec spoke again, it felt only natural that he came back to their last topic, his voice calm.

"I can tell you that Clary used to like Jace," he said, before he smiled and added, "And yes, as more than a friend."

"She never wanted to date him?" Magnus wondered.

"She never dared to, rather," Alec answered with a little frown, "She thought that he was too much of a player, so..."

Magnus groaned and he broke free of the soldier's gentle grasp to bury his head in his hands and tug at his hair.

"Perfect," he grumbled, "She thought he was a player? What is she going to think when she learns the truth about Jace and I? That she was right! Jace doesn't stand a chance..."

He abruptly looked up, paling as he stared at Alec.

"How can _you_ give me one?" he gasped, "We lied to you, we made you go through your coming-out again and..."

"Magnus," Alec called, "Calm down. I'm not going anywhere. Sure, none of this was pleasant but... To me, there are worse things than this lie."

His eyes looked past Magnus' head at that and for a moment, Hodge's shadow floated between the two men. Magnus should have stopped there, he should have taken Alec's answer as the forgiveness it was and yet, he couldn't help but insist on every reason why Alec should keep his distances. Goodness, he was a masochist.

"I'd understand if you wanted us to go slow and take our time, you know?" he babbled, "I mean, you don't really know me and this is very sudden and..."

"I know enough," Alec said with a bark of laughter, "You're loyal to your friends, you're funny and you try to make the best out of hard situations, for everyone. I can live with that. You should rather be concerned about me..."

Magnus would have liked to protest but a glance at Alec's serious face was enough for him to keep his mouth shut: whatever the young man was about to add, he should listen and think about it.

"I'm a Navy SEAL," he told him slowly, as if the words themselves were enough to condemn them. "That means I'm often out of the country, and I can't tell you where. I can't tell you what I do but you'll have to deal with the consequences anyway: the nightmares, the PTSD, the mood swings. And that's when I'm _here_. I won't often be. I could even not come back at all. Are you ready for that?"

"No," Magnus whispered honestly.

Because who would? Who would willingly sign up for such a life, a life of waiting, of worrying? Who would be ready for their partner's death every time they left home? No one. Still, he took Alec's hand in his and squeezed his fingers.

"I'm not ready for any of this," he repeated, "but I want to try and make our time together the happiest moments of our lives. Besides, you are _so not_ ready for me either. I can make a kitchen explode in less than two minutes, I snore, I probably drink too many Martini's a year, I sing under the shower, I..."

"I'll take it," Alec suddenly whispered against his lips, "I'll take all of it."

  


  


Their making-out session was interrupted by timid knocks on the door some time later, they didn't know how much exactly - and they didn't really care - but they sprang apart as quickly as if they'd been stung. A chance that it was just Jace, assuming by the light and nearly frightful knocks against the wooden panel, because the door wasn't locked: if anyone else had come in looking for Alec, they would have gotten more than they'd bargained for.

"Are you decent?" the blond asked as he peeked inside.

Magnus threw a pillow at his face.

"Party pooper," he said with a pout that had Alec melting.

"This is a terrible idea, you two are disgusting," Jace groaned.

"Your plan was a terrible idea," Alec pointed out, which made his brother squeak out a shriek _sorry_. "Why are you here?"

"Because mom has called us down for lunch," he explained, looking pained as he addressed Magnus, "I had to pretend that we were naked so she wouldn't come in our bedroom and see that you weren't there, and I promised I'd tell Alec. So, uh, let's go?"

"I think we should talk about a few details first though," Magnus said calmly, "I can't be holding both of your hands when we come down, can I? What do we do about the Plan?"

Jace gestured with his hands in a I-don't-know-don't-look-at-me-I'm-not-your-boyfriend way, then he looked at Alec, eager to let him decide whether he wanted to reveal that Magnus and he were together, for real, or not. Jace probably had an inkling of what his brother's decision would be though, because he didn't look surprised when Alec told them to go ahead and that he would follow on his own.

"Are you sure?" Jace asked nonetheless.

"I am. Family meals aren't the most pleasant experiences but it will only get worse if you tell our parents what's really going on. I think you and Magnus should go through with your plan, it would probably be easier for everyone."

"Thank you," Jace said, sighing in relief, "Just so you know, Magnus and I agreed not to kiss even to keep up the act so you don't have to wo..."

"Jace. Out. Now," Magnus growled, "I need a minute with your brother."

"Just a minute?" the blond asked with a shit-eating grin, one that had Alec throwing a second pillow at him.

"Out!" he shouted.

This time, Jace complied in a hurry, probably remembering that he owed his brother big time.

"Are you and Jace going to be okay?" Magnus asked in concern once the blond had left the bedroom.

For all his bravado, he knew his best friend: Jace had always admired his big brother and right now, he was scared beyond measure that the plan he had cooked up would dig a deep crevice between them, one that he wouldn't be able to fix.

"I'll forgive him," Alec answered with a tiny smile. "I'm a soldier. I've learned that life is short, so I'm not going back into the fight angry at my brother."

"Oh," Magnus whispered softly.

He hadn't thought about that... The soldier's mindset explained a lot of things though: why Alec was giving Magnus a chance, why he said he was all in even though they didn't know each other too well yet, and why he forgave Jace so easily - too easily, perhaps, in other people's eyes. But then they wouldn't understand Alec's point: he didn't want to waste the time he was given. 

Impressed, Magnus went lax in Alec's embrace when he held him and kissed him one last time, before he sent him on his way to Jace. Right then, he felt like a child whose parents had just divorced and he prayed that the day they would drop the act arrived quickly: now that he'd been given a taste of Alec, he couldn't wait for the time they would be able to slip out of a bedroom hand in hand. What they would tell Maryse and Robert at that time was a problem for another day.

Jace and Magnus arrived in the garden before Alec, as planned, and Luke and Izzy whooped as they made their way to their chairs, next to one another.

"Glad to see you two lovebirds managed to let go of each other long enough to join us," Luke joked, waggling his eyebrows - until Jocelyn elbowed him in the ribs as Max turned confused eyes toward him.

Jace blushed when he understood that Maryse had felt compelled to tell everyone - of age at least - about why they were late and he tried to keep his pride unharmed by accepting a glass of wine from his dad with dignity. He miserably failed though, since he started to choke when Alec made his entrance by saying:

"Well, the lovebirds should do well to keep their volume in check. Jace is especially loud."

Luke and Izzy high-fived each other, howling with laughter, while the blond nearly drowned in his wine from shock.

"Alec!" Jace finally spluttered, clearly not expecting his brother to say something like that.

He glanced at Magnus with wide eyes and they came to a sudden realisation at the same time: Alec was getting on with the Plan, covering for them - and himself in the process - and helping them to play the happy couple. Holy crap. This was perfect.

"That's private information!" Jace managed to yell, making furious eyes at his brother, who _smirked_ \- was it just Magnus or was it suddenly quite hot in the garden?

"Then you should make sure that it stays private," Alec shot back.

"I don't understand," Max piped up.

"Meatballs, Max?" Clary immediately suggested to distract the boy, handing him a bowl.

"I'm sure Jace wouldn't say no," Isabelle answered instead of her little brother, winking at Magnus.

Clary blushed as hard as Jace when she understood the innuendo prompted by her innocent - promise! - question, while Luke nearly fell off his chair, holding onto Jocelyn's wrist to keep his balance; even Maryse seemed to be fighting an amused, although tiny, smile. Glancing at Robert, Magnus saw that he was royally ignoring the naughty jokes and the happy mood but he shrugged it off: he had given up on trying to impress the man. He'd done the job with the rest of the family and he was quite happy with himself.

Now, he only had to hold on for two more days tops, then Jace and he would go home and break up - finally! - and everyone would cry except for the blond, Alec and Magnus himself. Actually, Alec and he might have do a happy dance, perhaps even the horizontal tango, unless it was too soon... They had time. Perhaps not much, depending on when Alec was due to meet up with his Unit somewhere far away from the States, but they could take their time to learn each other. Magnus would love to take Alec on a date first - it didn't matter where or when, as long as they could spend some time together.

They had much to talk about but this time, not just about what they would or wouldn't do regarding the fake dating business: Magnus wanted to hear Alec speak of his life before the navy, of the reasons he decided to become a SEAL, of his plans once he'd stop. He wanted to know the little things, Alec's ticklish spots, his favourite sweater, his odd habits, but knowledge of these little quirks could only come from deep intimacy and comfort around each other. He was eager to get the opportunity to show Alec just how much he yearned for all of that.

Magnus smiled when the soldier sat in front of him, even though he tried to hide it behind his glass: he couldn't grin for no apparent reason or the Lightwoods and Co. would notice that Jace wasn't the only man he was smiling for. However, Alec made it hard when one of his feet met Magnus' under the table, playful as it pushed against his ankle. The young man subtly checked that it was truly Alec's foot caressing his own and not Jace's, before he allowed himself to push back.

He couldn't help but smile at their childish behaviour, so he tried to follow the conversations around them to pretend that those were the cause of his amusement. He didn't dare to look at the soldier, for fear of laughing and not managing to explain why, so he glanced all around the table, praying that no one would realise what was going on. It was risky to play footsie during lunch when everyone was gathered together but Magnus loved it and...

His foot froze at the same time as his heart did when he noticed that Clary was glancing between Alec and him with her brows creased in confusion.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What now? :p Thank you for reading, hopefully you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter probably next weekend, so see you then! Make sure not to miss the next update by following me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/evilkeshi) (feel free to chat, I don't bite!)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! We got some very bad news yesterday but I'm so proud of our fandom for the fight we're putting up! I hope this chapter will bring you some happiness :) If you follow me on Twitter ([evilkeshi](https://twitter.com/evilkeshi?lang=fr)) you might have seen my suggestion to use #SaveShadowhunters and #PickUpShadowhunters if you live-tweet as you read, so we add up to the war effort ;) I hope you'll enjoy your reading!

  


Magnus didn't know Clary too well. They had spent some time together during the past few days, yes, but they had mostly played volleyball and such, not shared deep confessions on important matters. It turned out, though, that the young woman was quite observant, as well as straightforward.

"Alec likes you," she told him as soon as she could corner him alone in the kitchen, washing her glass of sangria in which a wasp had drowned, while Magnus was refilling Jace's bowl with ice-cream like the doting boyfriend he was (not).

"I'm sorry?" the young man said, feigning surprise.

Was it Magnus' or Alec's smile that had given them away? Most likely Alec's, because she hadn't said anything about Magnus sharing the soldier's feelings... And Clary couldn't have caught them play footsie under the table because, well, they _had_ kept their feet under the table. Her words didn't sound like an accusation though, more like a statement, something she was certain of and wanted to warn Magnus about so that he would be aware of the situation and able to deal with it before it became ugly. Well, he didn't actually know how to react to _that_ , torn between elation that people could see Alec's affection for him and dread that such transparency would create problems.

How was he supposed to play his cards here? What was he supposed to reveal to her or keep concealed? Jace and Magnus had agreed on telling Clary the whole truth - and if she had noticed Alec's tender eyes lingering on Magnus, then it was of the utmost importance that she learned what was going on from one of them: otherwise, she might imagine that Magnus was cheating on Jace with his boyfriend's own brother and then... The mess they had avoided with Alec would come back at full force.

Why was Jace never there when Magnus needed him the most? He should have been the one to talk to Clary...

"Alec likes you," the young woman repeated softly, "So be careful... I don't want any of you to get tangled in a messy love triangle."

There, that was his exact point: Magnus could not let her imagine that Alec and he were betraying Jace. It was sweet of her though, that she worried about her childhood friends enough to have a talk with Magnus about this _affair_.

"You don't have to worry about anything," he said with a nervous chuckle, praying that he was making the right decision as he pondered over his next words for a few seconds. "Speaking of getting tangled, though... I should probably mention, while we're at it, that Jace has a crush on you?"

Clary spluttered at that, blushing a delicate red that clashed awfully with her hair, and when she stared at him with wide eyes, Magnus suddenly got worried that he had revealed something truly new to her. What if she had no idea of Jace's unchanged feelings for her since their childhood? That would explain why she'd told the blond not to fuck up his relation with Magnus... Crap.

"You didn't know?" he asked on a small tone, praying that he wasn't currently ruining the illusion Jace and he had worked so hard to build: after what he'd told her, if she realised that they weren't a couple, fine, but if she didn't react as well as Alec had...

"I... I did," Clary stammered, to Magnus' relief, "But I didn't... I didn't know he still felt that way! We were kids back then but we grew up, I got into art school, we... We grew apart a bit, so I didn't think... I'm sorry, Magnus. If you want, I can avoid him until you leave, I won't get between you, I..."

"Clary," Magnus gently interrupted her, "Relax. I'm not telling you this so you'll back off. Jace is your friend and I won't disrespect that friendship by... keeping you apart. You know, uh..."

Magnus hesitated, glancing around to check that no one was en route to the kitchen, unsure of what his next step should be. He wanted to follow his and Jace's idea and tell her everything but she already seemed a bit upset that their friend wasn't over her yet... Could she stomach the whole truth?

"Are you..." Clary started before he could come to a decision, "Don't you mind that he still has feelings for me? Shouldn't you hate me?"

"No!" Magnus exclaimed, his eyes widening when he realised that he sounded maybe a bit too supportive of his boyfriend's having romantic feelings for someone else - well, fuck it. "In fact, it would be even better if _you_ felt the same way about him."

Clary didn't answer anything at first, only staring at him in mixed shock and incomprehension, and Magnus feared for a second that he had caused a disaster, that the redhead would run toward the garden screaming that Jace and he were nothing but a farce. Instead of that though, Clary remained rooted to the spot, blinking at him as if she was unable to process what he'd just said.

"Do you?" he gently prompted her, "Feel the same way, that is?"

"I..." Clary started, stumbling over her words, surprised by the question. "I used to? I mean, I... I liked him and maybe I still do but... I don't know! College got between us and... Yesterday was the first time I _really_ talked to him in months! But he's still _Jace_ so yeah, maybe I still like him and... What am I saying, this is not the point! Jace is your boyfriend!"

"No, he's not," Magnus said quickly, using the redhead's short pause for breath to his own advantage. "Listen, Clary... I'm not going to cheat on Jace with Alec, because Jace and I were never dating in the first place."

"You weren't... What?" she exclaimed.

"Shhhh," Magnus whispered, putting a finger against his own lips to get his meaning across, "Not so loud... I'll explain everything but please, let's keep this quiet, okay?"

Clary was looking at him as if he was a weird, otherworldly creature, but she still managed to hear him through her surprise and eventually, she nodded.

"I can't believe it," she said, "You make such a nice couple! You actually look really cute together."

"No, we don't," the young man groaned, rolling his eyes, "And we're not a couple, not for real."

"So let me get this straight..." she started, before she was interrupted by Magnus' laughter.

"That's impossible," he chuckled, "Not when Alec and I are involved."

She snorted, relaxing a little as Magnus joked, and then she asked:

"What about Jace?"

"Straight as ever, don't worry," the young man answered, winking, "And single."

The new information seemed to please Clary, although she frowned shortly after. She looked a bit lost, a bit angry as well, but confusion appeared to be her main problem and she didn't hesitate to voice it.

"Why?" she asked.

 _Why_. There were so many questions in that simple word... Why pretend, why a boyfriend, why hide Jace's true feelings instead of talking to her about these?

"Well... Long story short, Jace wanted to make you jealous, among other things," Magnus briefly explained, tired already at the mere thought of going through the long version of it all.

If she asked, Jace should be the one to give her the details: they definitively needed to talk anyway. Besides, Clary and he couldn't stay in the kitchen for too long or people would come looking for them... Oh, and Jace's ice-cream was melting already.

"Jealous?" Clary repeated, dumbfounded, her glass forgotten in the sink. "But... But I'm not jealous!"

"I know," Magnus told her with a gentle smile, "We noticed as soon as we got here. Jace was desperate."

"To think I was actually happy for him when he introduced you to us..." she mumbled, "I was glad that he had moved on, because it meant that our distance wouldn't hurt him anymore and... I dated other guys but I kept thinking about Jace, because I wondered what he would say if he was there... I thought that if he moved on, then I could do the same because I didn't have to worry about him being heartbroken anymore."

Magnus awkwardly patted Clary's shoulder when he realised how dejected she truly felt, after thinking that she and Jace didn't stand a chance anymore only to realise that in fact, they very much did. She had been relieved, for three days, that they could finally go their separate ways and stay friends, nothing more, without regret or resentment, without thinking that perhaps they hadn't seized their chance when they it presented itself. In the end, she was back to the starting line: Jace liked her and she did too, only she had no idea what to do about that fact.

All things considered, maybe Magnus' and Alec's immediate longing for each other had made their own situation easier - although more painful as well.

"I'm sorry we made things weird," Magnus apologised, squeezing her arm gently.

"You didn't," Clary reassured him, heaving a sigh, "We made it this way years ago... I'm just mad Jace didn't think he could tell me about this, because what does that make us? We used to share secrets all the time... Who are we to each other, now?"

Magnus stayed silent for a while, wondering, thinking about it too. Clary and Jace had known each other for so long, they shouldn't have let unspoken things settle between them. Of course it was easier said than done; they had been awkward teenagers at the time, afraid of rejection and disappointment, but now Clary was confused and probably hurt by Jace's lies. It wasn't going to be easy for them.

"Perhaps now is the best time to find out," he eventually said, trying to comfort the redhead. "You might be surprised, in the end."

"Maybe," Clary muttered, although she wasn't fully agreeing, and then she abruptly switched topics. "So, what's going on with you and Alec?"

Magnus wasn't fooled, he had noticed her discomfort at discussing her thing with Jace, but he accepted the change in conversation all the same. What she wanted to do about the blond man was something she would have to think about and Magnus couldn't help her, nor Jace himself, no matter how hard he wished he could just snap his fingers and make it all better... Not only for Clary and Jace but also for Alec and him.

"We like each other... A lot," he admitted with a smile, unable to fight it, "So we've decided to see where this leads us. Jace knows about it of course, and now, you. I'm just asking you to keep it under wraps, because we don't really want to be forced to explain to the whole family that we tricked them into thinking we were a couple."

"I can understand that," Clary replied. "But if you want to keep it a secret, tell Alec to stop smiling at you all the time."

Magnus nodded, although he already knew that he would do none of it: Alec's smile was as gorgeous as it was rare so he certainly wouldn't be the one to tell him to stop. After all, the soldier had every right to smile and be happy around his family, it didn't mean that he had some secret affair going on with his brother's boyfriend...

"As for Jace," Clary added after a second of reflection, "Could you tell him... that I need time? I want to process all of this calmly and I don't want to snap at him if he comes to me looking for something I'm not sure that I can give him just yet."

Understandable. Jace wouldn't be happy about this of course, since he had been waiting for so long, but he would accept Clary's decision and understand her desire to take her time, to think about what she wanted of Jace. It was better like this than rush into something that she would perhaps regret and, consequently, Jace as well.

"No problem," Magnus agreed, "I'll talk to him."

"And I won't talk about this to anyone," she promised.

"Thank you. It means a lot."

To him, to Jace, to Alec. Clary flashed him a weak smile before she left the kitchen, and Magnus glanced at the ice-cream he'd prepared before deciding to make a new one for Jace. It had melted during his conversation with the redhead, a much-needed talk, so that she didn't get the wrong idea about Alec and him. They really had to be careful: now that they were on the same page, that they both wanted to start something real, they couldn't get caught. It would be a disaster to end their story before it really began, should the family put all the blame on Magnus or Jace for the stupid plan they - well, his friend, really, although he wasn't completely innocent either - had come up with.

No more fun times under the table. They would have to live off stolen kisses, only if they could get away with these, at least until Magnus and Jace stopped pretending and even then, they would have to wait before announcing their relation. They couldn't let the Lightwoods think that Magnus' and Jace's perfect relation had gone to hell because Alec had seduced the lovely boyfriend.

The very idea of pretending to be Jace's boy hadn't been very good on its own but now, there were actual stakes and Magnus didn't want to lose Alec like that. Hopefully, Clary's mixed reaction was the last one they'd have to deal with: if all went according to their wobbly plan, no one else would know that they weren't dating for real. It would be time to think about a convincing explanation for Alec's and Magnus' blooming relationship later...

Still, even though it would be the easiest way to avoid the Lightwoods' disappointment or worse, anger, it was also one more lie... And the young man was starting to get tired of those. Magnus sighed, knowing that it wasn't the right time or even the right day to fix this issue; instead of dwelling on it, he plastered a smile on his face and joined the rest of the party in the garden, bowl of actual, frozen ice-cream in hand.

Jace's happy yelp at his sight turned Magnus' fake smile in a genuine one, amusement seeping into his expression as his friend made grabby hands at the bowl. That was when the young man realised that every one had moved around and swapped chairs as they discussed, leaving only one empty spot between Jace and Alec. Either irony had a real sense of humour or the siblings had done it on purpose.

"There," he told the blond man as he plopped onto the chair without hesitation, handing the bowl over.

"Thanks, you're the best!" Jace exclaimed, draping his arm over Magnus' shoulder as he dug into his dessert with his free hand.

Magnus immediately leaned in, snuggling against his blond friend, although his mind and his body wished for nothing else than Alec's embrace. Next to them, the soldier was sporting a resigned smile, as if he knew that the two friends still had to play their parts in spite of the feelings Alec and Magnus shared.

He hadn't forgotten what Clary had told him in the kitchen, that he had to be careful so no one would notice the bond between Alec and he, but Magnus couldn't bear the soldier's sad expression. He didn't move, not really, staying against Jace's chest, but he stretched his right leg until he could sneak his way to Alec's and then, he locked their ankles together. He could see, from the corner of his eye, the soldier's surprise as well as his delight, although he was clearly struggling not to show it, having come to the same conclusion as Magnus: they were insane, doing this when someone could drop a fork, kneel beneath the table and see them...

But Alec's content and comforted smile was worth all the risks.

  


  


"Karaoke?" Jace echoed his mother's word faintly.

The sun had set a few minutes prior and the Lightwoods and their guests had all gathered in the huge living-room for a lazy evening: they had ordered pizza and were waiting for the delivery man, lounging on the couch and poofs in front of the enormous flat screen Robert was fiddling with in order to start the karaoke app they'd purchased for evenings like these.

Somehow, Magnus couldn't imagine Maryse and Robert singing karaoke during long nights. Neither could he imagine Jace doing a good job at it, which his best friend was aware of as well.

"Yes!" Isabelle exclaimed, laughing at her brother's misery, "This is going to be so fun!"

"Not really," Alec frowned, "Jace can't sing to save his life. My ears are bleeding already."

The blond turned to stick his tongue out at his big brother, who raised an unimpressed eyebrow. However, Jace quickly deflated when Jocelyn suggested that he sang first so the worst would be over in no time - and everyone agreed with her, which didn't exactly boost the young man's confidence.

Magnus was crying with laughter by the time Jace was done butchering ABBA's _Dancing Queen_ , Izzy's choice, while the others looked horrified but awkwardly tried to tell the blond that he didn't sound that bad. Lies! Clary didn't seem to know whether she should laugh or cry - or both, like Magnus - but he guessed her reaction was better than indifference...

The redhead had kept her distance with Jace during the whole afternoon and just like Magnus had presumed, his friend had understood why when he'd gotten the proper explanation and he respected Clary's decision, no matter how sad it made him. It was her choice and he didn't have to like it.

Still, when Clary eventually laughed at him, Jace looked happy that he had managed to make her laugh even under these circumstances. Maybe he hadn't lost her yet.

Magnus was up next and as bad as Jace's singing was, he was actually quite skilled himself - he hadn't lied when he'd told Alec that he liked to sing under the shower, so he'd had many years to practice. He hadn't expected Luke to ask him to perform a rendition of _Marry you_ though, and he suspected the older man to have requested that song just to annoy the crap out of Robert.

Which Magnus did of course, making a show of kneeling in front of Jace to declare his eternal love, and if he _accidentally_ put his hand on Alec's thigh when he had to stand up again, well, who would blame him? It wasn't like he had done it on purpose or made that brief touch as soft and tender as possible...

Actually, Alec and Magnus managed to steal five minutes for themselves and away from everyone else when the doorbell rang, announcing the pizzas: the soldier immediately sprang up and hurried down the hallway, so Magnus shouted that he would help him. It was only fair, since no matter how muscular Alec looked, he couldn't bring back ten pizza boxes by himself - two pairs of strong arms were way better than one.

Between the moment the delivery man left, money in his pocket, and the time the two men came back in the living-room, Magnus enjoyed thirty seconds of gentle kissing in front of the closed door, away from all prying eyes. He would have gladly turned these few stolen seconds into a full minute of making-out but the pizzas were as hot as Alec and his fingers were already burning when they finally put the boxes on the table in the kitchen.

They grinned at each other, this too short instant gone already, but it helped nonetheless: pepped-up by this sweet moment, Magnus felt his heart calm down, the yearning sated for now. Judging by Alec's soft expression and loose posture (or at least, less tense than usual), the soldier felt something along the same lines, his little, private smile doing wonderful things to Magnus' stomach and the butterflies swinging in it.

The evening went on, spent between pizza, terrible performances and hilarious ones, such as Jocelyn's. She coaxed her husband into singing a duet with her and it made for a wonderful cover of _You're the one that I want_... With complete choreography.

They all agreed to call it a night quite early, still tired from the previous festive evening, so they cleaned up together before telling each other goodbye, and Magnus found himself into quite the predicament. According to the Plan, he was going to sleep in Jace's bed like he had the past two nights. According to his heart... Absolutely not.

He wasn't about to join Jace for the night when Alec was right there, on the other side of the wall, yet he couldn't exactly spend the night in the soldier's bed either, could he? That would be far more risqué than playing footsie with him...

Magnus was pulled out of his thoughts, quite rudely, when Jace threw something at his face, which turned out to be a towel and a thick sweater - one of Jace's, apparently, because he didn't remember packing any of those.

"What was that for?" he asked, glaring at his friend.

"Alec's waiting for you on the beach," the blond simply answered.

Magnus didn't need to know more: opening the door of the bedroom, he checked that no one, neither on his left nor on his right, was approaching and then he was off, tiptoeing down the staircase, silent as a shadow, although his heart was making enough noise to wake up the dead. He slipped through the garden, ran on the path between the pines and then, he left footprints on the sand as he hurried toward the waves.

The young man could see Alec in spite of the darkness, the moon reflecting its light on the sea and surrounding him with a silvery halo. The night was warm, not too hot and not cold either, so he figured the water was just this side of perfect, refreshing and soothing for the muscles. Magnus was about to remove his unsexy flip-flops when he noticed the clothes piled in a heap atop a towel on the sand, a few feet away from him... And he turned to stare at Alec so fast that he certainly pulled something in his back.

Fuck.

Alec was naked, his body only partly hidden by the waves that licked at his waist and his chest. Holy crap. Really?

Magnus immediately dropped the towel and the sweater he was carrying, removing his shoes and taking off his t-shirt at the same time, then he unbuttoned his pants clumsily, his fingers shaking with anticipation. Once he was finally as naked as the soldier, shameless and carefree, he walked to the sea, his heart beating so fast he was surprised he was still alive.

Alec welcomed him by his side with a kiss, both unhurried and eager at the same time, and his hands went in two opposite directions: one up, to cup Magnus' cheek, and the other down, wrapping around his waist. Magnus whimpered between their lips then, the touch of Alec's hand on his naked skin too much already, and he stepped forward as if to hide his body between the soldier's arms.

Legs tangled together, Magnus started to shake with desire when Alec drew him in even closer, his cock hard against his thigh, his fingers hot on the small of his back. The caress of the water against Magnus' stomach felt strange but not in a bad way, his abs quivering with every small, plashing wave against him, and his moans died against the soldier's mouth even as he came up for air, feeling like he was drowning in Alec's essence.

"This..." he panted, "This is so dangerous..."

Dangerous and addictive. Magnus hadn't even checked that no one was coming their way before he jumped in the water - but it was late, everybody was tired, the villa wasn't that close to the private beach... And maybe Jace was covering for them? Magnus didn't want to stop, step away from his soldier, his body more than ready, desire and lust mixing and boiling in his veins at every soft touch of Alec's hands, at his warm breath coming out in quiet laughter against his neck. Magnus shivered.

"Living dangerously is what I do best," Alec whispered, before he pushed his lips against Magnus' again.

Spurred on by this declaration, this recklessness he was growing to love, reassured at the thought that his best friend would probably (hopefully) look out for them, Magnus jumped in Alec's arms, entwining his fingers into his wet hair, wrapping his legs around him, breaking the kiss to giggle at the soldier's surprised gasp. Alec managed to hold him, because the water made him lighter, but Magnus doubted that the other man would have been able to carry him on firm ground - he would have loved to see him try, though. Oh well, it wasn't like he would have succeeded either anyway: they were both too heavy and strong, not to mention that the soldier was also taller than him.

Magnus' amusement vanished as soon as Alec's lips assaulted his neck, salty because of the gentle sea, to be replaced with unabashed want. He bucked against the soldier, holding onto his shoulders, and he could feel Alec sway and loose his footing, pleasure shooting like arrows from his crotch to the tips of his toes, and they both collapsed in the water when the soldier let go of him, his knees giving up on him under the onslaught of sensations.

"B... Beach?" Magnus coughed his suggestion when they came up to the surface, looking like wet dogs.

Alec couldn't answer, busy spitting out half of the sea, but he let Magnus grab his hand to lead him back to the sandy ground and to the towels they had spread out earlier. The soldier sat down first, holding onto Magnus' fingers and waiting for him to sit by his side, inviting smile lightening his whole face. Magnus surprised him, though: pushing on the soldier's chest, he made him lie down and covered his body with his own, harvesting a broken plea directly from Alec's parted lips.

His delight at hearing the soldier's unrestrained moans only grew as he became bolder, his hands and his mouth working together to built the image of Alec's body in his mind: his chest, larger than his own, dark hair dusting his pectorals, and his arms, that Magnus took pride in noticing weren't as thick as his own biceps - perhaps he could carry Alec after all? He was so going to try that in the future.

Slowly, Magnus started to move against Alec at the same time as he kissed the twin scars on his shoulder, as if he could soothe the old wounds; he trailed his lips down to the soldier's ribs and then lower still, to his hips, kissing and nosing at the trident tattooed there, shifting with every shudder that shook Alec's frame.

"I... I don't have condoms," the young man warned softly when Magnus mouthed at his crotch, eyes half-closed.

"It's okay," he answered with a small smile, far from disappointed, glad to enjoy every little thing they could give each other right there and then, "We don't need those for now. I just want to touch you."

"Yes, please," Alec breathed out, hips thrusting up in an explicit invitation, "Magnus..."

The young man smirked when the soldier abruptly stopped talking as he wrapped his hand around him, although his self-satisfaction didn't last long at all: soon, his breath was coming out in short pants while Alec jerked him off at the same pace as Magnus' rhythm on his own cock, and they muffled their cries on each other's mouth.

When they came, together, Magnus buried his face in the crook of Alec's shoulder and he breathed deeply, taking in the smell of salt, sex and this additional scent that reminded him of Alec and him only. As the young man beneath him held him tight, Magnus wished that it could always be this peaceful in the future, just like this: the sound of the waves, the moon above them, and Alec's warm hands on his back.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and for being so supportive with every chapter <3 Until next time!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I just got back from a Swan Lake ballet broadcast so now, of course I have ideas about ballet dancer!Magnus and reporter!Alec who prefers opera but can't get enough of Magnus' dancing. Let's first finish this story though, we'll see what the future brings! Thank you so much for your support on this story, both here and on Twitter, you are the best!

  


Magnus first realised that he felt warm. Warm and cosy, as well as a bit confused and disoriented, because he could hear the sounds of waves that seemed quite close and besides, his bed felt odd. Opening one eye, Magnus forgot all about his wonder when he caught sight of Alec next to him, resting peacefully, one arm slung across Magnus' body and his chest rising and falling at a pace so calm and steady it almost sent the young man right back to sleep.

But then he noticed his surroundings and all of a sudden, his odd mattress made a lot more sense. He was actually lying on a towel, half-buried in sand probably due to too much tossing and turning on his part, and the sky above his head was turning pink on the horizon, announcing the beginning of a new day. Magnus gasped and abruptly sat up when he understood that Alec and he had spent the night on the beach, panicked thoughts immediately assaulting him as he realised how exposed they were, making it easy for anyone to spot them.

His swift shifting startled the soldier awake, used as he was to react to every sudden noise or movement, but he relaxed as soon as he set his eyes on Magnus - even though the young man was rather agitated himself. Rightly so, he thought: although he was wrapped in Jace's sweater, probably thanks to Alec's thoughtfulness since he didn't remember putting it on himself, Magnus was still very much naked underneath it, as well as the soldier. Which was a wonderful thing, by the way.

Magnus wished they could have turned this situation into a sweet morning of making love on the beach, yet they had a villa to go back to before someone came for an early dive in the sea...

"Hey... Did you sleep well?" Alec asked, surprising Magnus by the mundane question, as if they hadn't just slept in the sand meters away from his family home.

"Yes," he answered with a smile nonetheless, "What time is it?"

If the Lightwoods were already up and about... Going back to their respective rooms promised to be one hell of a adventure. The sun hadn't fully risen yet though, so perhaps it was still early enough to pass unnoticed?

"Half past five," Alec said when he reached out for his abandoned pants and found his phone in the back pocket, confirming Magnus' thoughts. "We have time to go back..."

"Maybe we should get dressed first," the young man said, poking at Alec's bare chest with a grin and trying not to let his touch linger - _bad idea, Magnus, bad idea!_ said a little voice in his head.

They did get dressed, which took them some time: first, they had to actually find their clothes that they had haphazardly discarded the previous night and second, they had to shake the sand off them. It didn't help that they were both so taken with each other that they _stared_ , enjoying the way the shy morning sun showed them what they had missed in the dark a few hours prior: defined muscles they had felt but couldn't see properly, the black lines of Alec's hip tattoo that Magnus had known was there but could only faintly discern, or the warm colour of his eyes turning golden as specks of light were reflected in them.

Itchy with the sand still stuck in his clothes, Magnus eventually buttoned his pants and put his flip-flops back on right as Alec's head emerged from his t-shirt. They didn't look too fresh, neither of them, but he guessed this would have to do... No shower before getting back inside anyway. His mood suddenly dropping at the thought of being forced to watch his every move and automatic glance at the soldier, the young man headed for the path that would lead them to the villa, but Alec taking his hand and resisting stopped him in his tracks.

"Shouldn't we go back before someone notices we're missing?" Magnus asked, brows furrowing, "Assuming no one already realised, that is..."

The soldier nodded in agreement but he still didn't let go of Magnus' hand and even dragged him away from the sinuous trail, leading him a bit further down and toward the trees that flanked the path and the garden.

"We'll go back through the pinewoods," Alec explained, "It's less exposed and we'll actually be able to go to the front of the villa. The bedroom windows have a view of the garden, so no one will see us if we get inside through the front door..."

Magnus smiled at the technicalities, which he assumed were a direct consequence of Alec's job; the young man would never have thought of the cover the pinewoods offered, while the soldier's life depended on this kind of quick and circumspect thinking. He tightened his hold on Alec's hand at the thought of the military: he would take every second he could get to bask into the soldier's presence. Which reminded him of a tiny detail that still mattered a lot.

"Jace and I should be leaving tomorrow," he told Alec as they walked between the trees, holding hands and pretending this was just a romantic stroll like every other couple could take.

They were walking at a slow pace underneath the canopy, unconsciously trying to make their way back last for as long as possible so that they could enjoy some more time alone. All things considered, they hadn't had much time together, wasting precious moments between misunderstandings and yearning stares, and Magnus could feel the seconds ticking away with painful acuity. If only he'd had the power to stop time, just for these few hours they had spent on the beach... But it was impossible. Still, he would cherish that moment forever, drawing strength and confidence from these precious instants.

"I have one week left," Alec said softly, almost as if he expected some strong negative reaction to his words.

Of course Magnus wasn't thrilled that the soldier was going to leave in a few days and most likely risk his life while doing his job. But it was his job, a job he had chosen to do, and Magnus couldn't blame him for fulfilling his duty. All he could do was to bring his support to Alec and hope for the best.

"I could go back to New York for the rest of the week," the young man added after a little while, "I have a flat there. But since Izzy stays a few more days and Max obviously still lives with our parents, I might stay as well. I'm not sure yet."

Magnus weighed the words that would come out of his mouth next for a grand total of zero second, before he stopped walking and blurted out his idea.

"We could meet some day before you leave," he suggested, "Go on a first date, perhaps?"

"A date?" Alec repeated.

Something in his intonation told Magnus that Alec truly had not expected that he might want to actually go out with him and the young man was suddenly reminded of the conversation that had followed their first kiss. Alec had enumerated all the reasons why getting involved, intimately, with a Navy SEAL was a bad idea, half-waiting for Magnus to run away and forget all about pursuing anything with him.

"A date," Magnus confirmed, smiling, trying to reassure the soldier, to make him understand that he wasn't kidding, that he truly wanted this. "Movie date, coffee date, picnic date, cuddling-on-the-couch-watching-a-bad-movie date, you name it, I can do it."

"Yeah," Alec said in a breath, suddenly excited. "A date. I haven't been on a date for... years, I think? I mean, I haven't even dated for... Is this what we're doing? Dating?"

Magnus couldn't answer at first, a bit taken aback by the question, because in other circumstances... He would wait before defining his relationship with someone new as _dating_ \- for that to happen, they would have gone on a few dates already, for example. Alec, however... They hadn't met like normal people did, Magnus hadn't even been able to introduce himself as he truly was... But if these past few days of torture had taught him anything, it was that he was more than ready to have something with Alec, something good. He wasn't going to wait until they got their second date - what, in six months, while the soldier was on leave?

"We could be," Magnus said carefully, not knowing what Alec's thoughts on the matter were. "If you want us to be."

"I do," the young man answered with a grin, that only faded a little as he reminded Magnus of an important fact. "But I told you before that I couldn't promise you anything and it is true, so..."

"I know," the other shot back before Alec could even finish his sentence - to be honest, he didn't exactly want to hear it in full. "No promises. Only the present."

"Yes," Alec nodded, taking the few steps needed to reduce all distance between them. "The present sounds good."

Magnus had closed his eyes before Alec could even press their lips together, knowing - or whishing? - that he was leaning in for a kiss; it tasted salty, which was probably normal after a night on the beach, but neither of them cared much. They could only focus on this instant, their breaths mixing, tongues carefully touching, discovering each other's mouth all over again. Magnus tried to enjoy this kiss to the fullest, tried to ignore the nagging thoughts at the back of his mind taunting him, telling him that perhaps it was their last kiss of the day: no matter how exhilarating it felt to sneak away with Alec, he knew they couldn't keep doing it, not if they wanted to preserve the very new and fragile thing they had.

So he gave his everything to the soldier through this kiss, his hands clenching on Alec's collar and pushing him backwards, until Magnus could press him against the closest pine, where he proceeded to nip playfully at Alec's neck. Except that the young man moaned softly and suddenly, Magnus didn't want to play anymore. Sliding one of his hands under Alec's right thigh, he lifted his leg to bring it around his waist and then he stepped forward, nestling between his lover's long legs.

Alec smiled then, not one of his soft and gentle smiles but rather a taunting smirk, challenging Magnus to sex him up right there in the pinewoods, already aroused by their kiss. The soldier's eyes widened when Magnus dropped to his knees without hesitation and mouthed at the seam of his pants pressing against his crotch, and out of surprise, maybe mostly out of excitation, Alec tangled his fingers in Magnus' hair, as if he needed to hold onto something, someone, to keep his anchor into reality.

As focused as he was on his task to slowly turn Alec crazy with all the teasing, Magnus didn't fail to notice the instant the young man stiffened at once - in a wrong way. Raising his head to glance at Alec's face, he realised with uneasiness that the soldier had heard or seen something he'd missed himself, until there was the sudden sound of a branch cracking under someone's foot, a gasp that didn't come from either of them, and then Magnus was turning away from Alec to stare, horrified, in Izzy's eyes.

The soldier quickly grabbed his hands to help him back on his feet before they stepped away from each other at the same time, as if this new distance would let them pretend that Magnus hadn't been about to blow Alec right there and then. It was too late though: Magnus' palms were sweaty, the soldier had paled next to him, and Isabelle, in her jogging attire...

She looked angry. Disbelieving and hurt, too, but mostly pissed, about to explode. Everything was silent in the pinewoods so far, both men barely dared breathing for fear of disturbing the tension, thick between the trees, and all Magnus could think about was that he had royally fucked up.

"Isabelle..." he eventually squeaked, trailing off almost immediately, not knowing what to say.

It couldn't be that hard. He had told Alec and Clary before, he could tell Izzy too. It didn't have to end badly... Except that the young woman had seen them in ways Clary hadn't, she was clearly jumping to conclusions, judging by the furious expression on her face, and Magnus couldn't even blame her: if he'd had siblings, catching one of them with their brother's boyfriend wouldn't have pleased him either.

"Izzy," Alec tried too, urgency in his breathless voice, "This isn't what it looks like..."

"No," she said, her tone final, going as far as to take a step back when the soldier reached out for her, "Don't even try this with me. I saw the way you looked at each other when Jace introduced you but I didn't think..."

Magnus felt a knife twisting in his heart. Isabelle had known. She had guessed from the start that something intense had sparked between them, she had seen their attraction for each other, yet she hadn't said a word to anyone, she hadn't even confronted them about the situation, trusting them both enough to convince herself that they would never betray Jace like this. Now she was angry at them, at herself maybe, for not preventing it when she had seen where this was headed, and they had to do something.

"Let me explain," Magnus started, feeling sick at the thought that she was reading this all wrong, "We..."

"I don't want to hear it," she interrupted him, shaking her head, glancing at her brother. "I... I didn't think this of you. Either of you. I don't know you well, Magnus, but I thought you were a good man. And Alec..."

She looked at a loss for words during a brief moment and the soldier opened his mouth, ready to tell her the truth, to make her see how wrong she was, how she'd been deceived, but her next words slapped them both like a whip slashing at their hearts.

"How could you do this to your brother?" she asked, her voice shaking with disappointment and pain on the behalf of her blond sibling. "I thought I knew you!"

"Izzy!" Alec exclaimed, "If you would just listen to me, there are things you need to know, you..."

"You have thirty minutes to tell Jace about this or I will," she growled, before she stared at the other man and added, "I'll call the driver to get you to the airport. You're leaving, Magnus, I don't care what excuse you find for our parents."

She briefly glanced at her brother and hesitated, as if she wasn't sure she should ask him to leave as well. Then, without any other word, she was gone, turning around and jogging through the pinewoods, leaving both men stunned and scared for what was going to happen next. Magnus was panicking. Isabelle knew they had something going on but she didn't realise what or why exactly, she hadn't given them the time to explain themselves and... She was going to tell everyone, wasn't she?

It was too early. The breakup couldn't happen now, the timing was so wrong! Jace and he had wanted to keep playing perfect boyfriends until they were back home and now, if Isabelle told her family... It had to wait or they would all put the blame on Alec - Magnus could already hear Robert's incredulous voice asking if the soldier had seduced his brother's boyfriend... Fuck.

He wasn't mad at Izzy, because it was their own fault they had fooled around outside, and she was protective of her family: it was only normal that she thought he was jeopardising everything by getting between Alec and Jace. So if it had to end like this... Magnus would rather be blamed for the whole mess than let Alec suffer from his sister giving him the cold shoulder.

"Magnus," Alec suddenly called, getting him out of his own head as he took his hand in his own, "Come on. Let's get back inside."

The young man followed him with a nod, silent, but then his sight became blurry as tears finally spilled and he let out a quiet sob, feeling like his heart was stomped onto.

"This is over, isn't it?" he asked, blinking fast in the vain hope to keep most of his tears at bay, "We... Will we still..."

Alec didn't allow him to speak any more: pulling him into his embrace, the soldier kissed him, crushing his tears with his thumbs, holding him until Magnus could feel the torn pieces of his heart sewing themselves back together. When their lips parted, he felt calmer, comforted by Alec's hand in his.

"I'm not giving up on us," the soldier told him, his loving eyes warming up the depths of Magnus' soul. "We'll do this step by step and we'll figure something out."

"We'll figure it out," Magnus repeated in a short breath. "Okay. We can do this."

Alec nodded with a smile that probably looked far more confident than the man truly felt inside and he kissed his forehead, soft lips leaving behind a tingling sensation. Magnus' own mouth curled up in happiness and he rubbed at his wet eyes before tightening his grip on the soldier's hand.

"Let's go," he said, glad to realise that his voice sounded firmer than he'd expected.

They quickly walked out of the pinewoods and up to the front door of the villa that Alec unlocked with the spare key, hidden without much originality under the closest flowerpot. They didn't come across anyone, fortunately, while they tiptoed through the hall and the living-room, until they reached the stairs, climbed the steps in silence and went into Alec's bedroom, closing the door behind themselves with a soft, almost inaudible _click_. How ironic was it that they hadn't met anyone inside the villa but that Izzy had stumbled upon them in the pinewoods?

Finally allowing themselves to take a breath, feeling safe in the soldier's room, both men stared at each other in silence for a while, as if it was the last time they got to really look and wanted to commit each other's features to memory.

"What do we do now?" Magnus eventually asked, refusing to lose precious seconds. "We tell Jace what happened?"

"Yes," Alec agreed, "And I think he should be the one to explain the situation to Izzy. She's not going to listen to us, so..."

Magnus would have suggested to ask Clary for her help as well since she and Isabelle were close but in the end, he didn't mention her: the redhead wasn't sure of where she stood regarding Jace so he wasn't going to throw her at his friend only to get Alec and him out of trouble.

Exchanging an encouraging look with the soldier, Magnus took a deep breath and braced himself, thinking with dread of every single thing that already had or could still go wrong, then he opened the door for Alec and him and they stepped onto the corridor.

"Alec?" a woman called, making them freeze on the spot, "And... Magnus?"

Oh fuck. Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! This couldn't be... Slowly, scared to face this new reality, Magnus and Alec turned around. The young man hadn't checked that no one was walking in the hallway when he'd opened the door, too upset to think about that, and now it wasn't just Izzy who had caught them but Maryse, too. Her eyes widened.

Magnus knew what they looked like: their hair mussed by the wind of the beach and the night they had spent outside, wearing the same clothes as the previous day, walking out of the same bedroom in the early morning... Not a lot of imagination was needed to understand what they had been up to. Magnus could have cried out of frustration: they hadn't gotten caught before, not even as they stole kisses in the hall of the villa right next to the others and now, everything was crashing down.

"What is this?" Maryse exclaimed loudly, "Did you... My God, were you..."

She didn't finish her question but she didn't need to: the answer she was looking for was right there in front of her eyes, on their guilty faces, in the instinctive step they had taken toward each other to face her together. From shocked, Maryse's expression turned to sadness and anger.

"Mom," Alec started, unwilling to make the same mistake they had with Izzy, letting her go without setting her straight, "Listen to me..."

"I can't believe it," she gasped, her voice quiet at first, and it was almost even worse than if she had screamed at them, "Please, tell me you didn't do this to your brother, this isn't... This can't be, this isn't you! And... Magnus, I didn't think you would ever... After everything you told me about accepting my boys and being supportive of them, you go and do this?"

Her voice had started to rise as she spoke, glaring at them both, and soon the noise was dragging people out of their rooms, wondering what was happening so early. As if it wasn't enough yet, Izzy came up from the staircase, frown creasing her forehead, and she gently sent Max right back inside his room when he tried to join the little crowd that had gathered in the corridor. Robert, Luke, Jocelyn... They were all there but Jace, who was probably trying to rub sleep out of his eyes before leaving the bed, if he had even heard his mother yell.

Magnus was sort of thankful that Max had been shoved back in his bedroom: if this was going to end in screams, he didn't want the little boy to be there, even though he couldn't keep him from hearing. He felt like he couldn't breathe anymore, surrounded by so many people who were thinking that Alec and he had done something bad just because they didn't know any better, and he was glad when he caught a glimpse of red hair behind Luke's and Jocelyn's heads, relieved to at least have one ally in this.

"This must be a misunderstanding," Clary tried to tell them all when she realised what the others had wrongly understood, her wide eyes glancing at the lovers.

"Trust me," Isabelle said coldly, "It isn't. I thought I'd told you to leave, Magnus."

"You knew?" Robert asked his daughter.

"I just saw them," she corrected him. "I..."

The sound of one more door opening stopped her from revealing what she had seen and Magnus felt Alec relax only slightly next to him, as a still sleepy Jace finally slipped out of his bedroom. It was too early to be reassured though, because Jace's arrival could either save them or ruin them a bit more if the others refused to hear the truth - or became even angrier because of it. They were never getting out of this mess, were they?

Apparently not. Because Jace wasn't a morning person and his ability to focus, so early in the day, was close to zero. So when his blurry eyes settled on Magnus and Alec, he grinned, blissfully unaware of everyone else standing behind them, and he exclaimed with a bright smile:

"Hey, guys! So, did you have fun last night?"

And all hell broke loose.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muhahahaha... I promise I'll do my best to update quickly! We're getting to the end, thank you for reading so far <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *drum roll* Here it comes! I'm so, so happy to give you this chapter, it is the last one before the epilogue so I hope you'll enjoy it! Thank you so much everyone for your feedback on the previous chapter, reading all of your comments is always a pleasure :) Thank you for all the love and support!

  


"You knew?!"

"And you said nothing? What the hell, Jace?!"

"How can you accept this?"

"You encourage them?!"

Maryse, Isabelle, Robert, Izzy again. All of them staring at Jace as if he was crazy, while Clary was rubbing her hands anxiously, waiting for a reaction, wondering what the blond man's next move would be. Standing by her side, Luke and Jocelyn were awkwardly glancing at each other, feeling like they were intruding in family drama that didn't really involve them. And in fact, Magnus thought, if he had truly been cheating on Jace with Alec, wasn't it a situation that only the three of them should have been dealing with, instead of the whole Lightwood family?

At the reproaches in his parents' and sister's voices, Jace finally woke up and realised what he'd said in front of this furious audience, what he'd caused with his words, prompted only by his interest in knowing that his big brother and his best friend were happy together. He glanced helplessly at Magnus, his blue and brown eyes giving a silent apology, until they slightly widened to ask a question that the young man managed to interpret.

The two friends understood each other without the need to voice any of their thoughts - in hindsight, maybe they shouldn't have been so surprised that everyone believed them while they pretended to be dating... Perhaps they did act like a married couple, although the thought was disturbing. Not he had much time to dwell on that fact, since Jace bravely stepped in front of his family to request the silence, putting Alec and Magnus behind himself in the process, as if to protect them from all accusations.

Isabelle apparently understood it that way, because she blinked at them in incomprehension before she redirected her attention to her blond brother. Jace looked a bit nervous and Magnus could relate, not feeling much confident either, but at least telling the truth would be better than letting everyone believe that Alec and he had fooled around behind Jace's back - or worse, that the three of them were sleeping together.

"Magnus and I are best friends," Jace said, slowly, hoping that it would be clear enough. "Only that."

"We're not dating," Magnus added helpfully when his friend's announcement didn't get any response, only blank stares. "We never were."

"What?" Luke was the first one to react, looking dumbfounded, "But... But you..."

He gestured at Jace and Magnus as a whole, obviously remembering every time they had hugged, held hands, teased each other with sexual innuendos. They had even slept in the same room and except for this morning, neither Jace nor Magnus had given him any reason to doubt their relationship.

"You lied to us?" Maryse recoiled and now, she definitively sounded hurt - this wasn't going well.

"Uh..." Magnus started awkwardly, wondering what would be the best way to answer that, before his best friend decided to rip the band-aid once and for all.

"Yes!" Jace admitted, eventually overwrought, "But we didn't mean for it to blow up like this!"

"Why did you lie to us in the first place then?" Isabelle asked, crossing her arms against her chest in annoyance.

However, her irritated frown wasn't deep enough to hide the pain that the thought of her sibling lying to her on such an important matter had kindled in her heart.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" the blond man exclaimed, "On the phone, mom was asking if I had met someone for the barbecue and I just... I said yes! But I hadn't!"

"Then why didn't you say so?" Maryse asked, bewildered.

Jace deflated, his voice coming down at a barely audible volume, and Magnus was probably the only one to understand exactly how insecure his friend felt in that moment, as he whispered:

"I haven't seriously dated anyone for a while. But I couldn't keep coming alone... Besides, you didn't stop bothering me about meeting girls and bringing one home!"

"Because I worry!" Maryse protested, thinking that Jace was trying to put the responsibility of his lies on her, "I never said you _had_ to come with someone!"

"This isn't the end of the world if I'm not in a committed relationship! Me not dating anyone shouldn't worry you!"

"Of course I worry," Maryse shot back, "You're my son!"

"I know..."

Suddenly, Jace's strong voice turned quieter and his eyes softened as he stared at his mother. Magnus' lips curled in a small smile, knowing how much his best friend liked to hear words like these, although he would probably never admit such a thing. After his parents passed away, Jace had doubted for quite some time that he truly belonged with the Lightwoods and even though that fear had vanished since long, hearing his mother call him her son, in spite of his lies that so obviously hurt her, must appease him a lot. Magnus imagined so, at least. He didn't know what it felt like to be called _son_.

"You don't have to worry about this," the blond said, his voice softer than before, "Worry about... I don't know, my studies, my future job, something like that. I'm fine not dating anyone."

Well, that was one big fat lie, Magnus thought, knowing all about his best friend's fragile confidence when it came to being with someone long-term, wondering if he would end up alone or if he could keep the flame ablaze if he met someone, since it had never worked with any of his partners before... But that was probably because Jace was head over heels for Clary and had always been, even though he'd tried to get over her by dating other girls - that was the problem, wasn't it? His friend obviously read his mind because he quickly amended:

"I mean, I'm not _fine_ per se, I just... I like someone but I'm not sure how she feels about me, exactly. We need time to figure it out."

Magnus didn't miss the way Clary blinked. She stayed silent though, which was certainly the wisest decision: it was a big enough mess, no need to involve her any further. Her conversation with Jace would be one for another moment, far from all ears.

"So... What?" Izzy asked with wide eyes, still not over Jace's lies. "You just... decided to pretend that you were dating? Who even comes up with plans like these?"

"I was against it at first," Magnus mumbled, just so that part was settled, feeling pretty uncomfortable when all looks fell on him. "But... Yeah. We planned on breaking up, too. Jace would have been heartbroken... After that, he hoped you wouldn't ask about his love life again."

Goodness, it sounded stupid to even say it. How either of them could have believed that it would work was beyond his comprehension. Maryse made a weird face at his words though, realising how much her questions had actually bothered her son, but she didn't say anything. Perhaps she didn't know what to say.

"Isn't this the plot of rom-com's?" Jocelyn asked then, her voice light, trying to brighten the mood a little, and Magnus was thankful for her intervention when it made Izzy snort.

"Yeah," he agreed, "although the main characters of these movies end up falling in love. For the record, I'm not in love with Jace."

Maryse rubbed her temples and pinched the bridge of her nose at that clarification, as if she'd expected them to suddenly reveal that they were joking and still very much dating and even planning on getting married. Now however, she didn't have any hope for that left.

"Me neither," Jace added firmly, before he lowered his voice and grumbled, "I still think this was a great plan, though."

"Until we met," Alec said softly, speaking for the first time since his family's outbursts.

The soldier tentatively reached for Magnus' hand to show them that he was serious, glancing at his parents and his sister with apprehension, looking like he expected to be struck by lightning for his gesture, but also with a firm determination: after all, he had lived through worse. Isabelle's frown morphed into horrified guilt when she realised how she had wronged Magnus and her brother, accusing them of something they weren't even doing in the first place. Their desperate attempts to make her listen to them weren't meant to justify the fact that Magnus was cheating on Jace with Alec: they had just wanted to avoid this whole confrontation.

"Look at them," the blond said on a slightly forced cheerful tone, gesturing at his brother and his best friend holding hands, trying to defuse the situation. "Aren't they cute?"

No one answered that, maybe still shocked from too many revelations at the same time, and Jace's enthusiasm faltered a little.

"So..." Robert started hesitantly, squinting at his blond son, "You're not gay?"

Magnus fought the urge to facepalm but Isabelle was the one to voice exactly what he thought and he wondered if she was on their side now. Except that it wasn't a matter of picking sides, he mused, only of forgiving them for lying - or not.

"Seriously, dad? After everything they told us, that is your only concern?" Izzy asked.

"You realise that this is exactly why I did this with Magnus, right?" Jace pointed out before his father could answer anything. "Because Alec doesn't deserve any of the crap you've been giving him since he came out and..."

"Jace..." Alec tried to interrupt his brother, who, as it turned out, was having none of it.

"No, Alec, it's true," the blond man shot back, before he addressed his father again. "I thought... I wanted you to accept this. Magnus and I... Because I thought that if you could see how happy we were together, you would start wishing the same for Alec. Obviously, that backfired but my point still stands."

Robert didn't answer anything but he had the decency to look somewhat ashamed - and then, there was a silence. Long and thick, as the explanations Jace had given completely worked their way into everyone's brains, and no one spoke. If possible, Jocelyn and Luke looked even more awkward than a few minutes prior: they were friends with Robert and Maryse but they couldn't deny that the Lightwoods' behaviour, especially Robert's, hadn't been the most supportive of their oldest son... Jocelyn glanced at Luke, clearly wondering if they should leave, let the Lightwoods talk about this on their own, without them, since they weren't family and...

Magnus neither.

The realisation hit him, hard, because Jace was his best friend and more, close to what Magnus imagined having a brother must feel like, and he had grown attached to this family in spite of their difficulties to communicate with each other. And he knew that he was deeply involved in the current situation, he was even responsible for it as much as Jace, but in the end... He shouldn't be there.

Maryse still looked angry but if Magnus had learned anything during the past few days, then he knew the exact reason for it: the lies. Even worse maybe, the fact that they had lied because Jace thought he couldn't tell his own mother the truth, couldn't talk to her about his actual love life. Besides, she'd trusted them, only to be severely disappointed. Magnus hated to see these expressions on her face, Robert's shameful anger and Izzy's guilt... He couldn't take it, it was too much. Call him a coward but he couldn't stay there and wait for someone to finally say or yell something, not when all he could think about was _I did this_. Sure, he wasn't alone in this. But the others would be alright, because Alec and Jace were family. He wasn't. He'd never been anyone's family.

"I..." he started, choked a little with emotion, started over, "I should leave. You... you need to talk, you..."

He wasn't even sure of what he was saying, babbling, letting go of Alec's hand - and it was hard, even more so when the soldier reached for him again, a desperate gesture, missing him only because Magnus had stepped away too quickly. The young man heard Alec's voice calling after him, softly, like one would speak to a frightened animal, with a pleading edge, then Magnus was aware of the stairs under his feet.

He felt like he was walking in a dream, a nightmare perhaps, and he didn't even know where he was going, what he was going to do next: his stuff was still upstairs in Jace's room, his heart in Alec's hands, and there were tears in his eyes and...

"Magnus!"

It wasn't as much the hand suddenly holding onto his left biceps as the strong call of his name that stopped him dead in his tracks, in the middle of the living-room, as Alec's firm voice shook him out of his panicky haze. The soldier's fingers were warm on his skin, tight too, afraid of letting go, and they grounded Magnus, anchoring him to the present - to Alec.

"I'm not giving up on us," the soldier said before Magnus could try to run away again. "I told you that - and I meant it."

"But your family..."

"... doesn't dictate my life," Alec finished for him.

He smiled then, making Magnus' heart snap right back in place - how could he do that? How was it possible that one blink of his gorgeous eyes made the sad rain disappear, leaving only sunlight in his sky?

"You said you weren't ready for the military thing," Alec reminded him gently when he didn't get any answer from Magnus, and he cupped his face in both of his hands. "But then you told me that you wanted to make our time together the happiest. So let's not end it like this."

Magnus nodded, frantic and his eyes still a little teary, but it didn't matter when Alec was holding him like this, looking at him so softly, hope sparkling in his own eyes. They could do this, he reminded himself. It didn't have to end... Not if he chose to fight for it, for them. Goodness, he was overdramatic, wasn't he? He hadn't even waited for someone to tell him to leave, he'd just... He had protected himself. Leaving before someone could throw him out, like a child they didn't want anymore.

"I'm sorry," Magnus whispered, leaning into Alec's body, "I panicked."

"It's okay," the soldier comforted him, now running his fingertips up and down his lover's back. "I did a little, too."

"Kiss me?" Magnus asked, almost pleadingly, and Alec smiled again.

"Of course."

They shared the softest of kisses, a gentle reassurance, a reminder that they were together and had the right to, that the others' opinion didn't really matter, and then Magnus was the one to reach for Alec's hand.

"What do we do now?" the young man asked the soldier, hesitantly glancing at the stairs they'd both come down from.

"We face the music," Alec suggested. "Together."

Magnus nodded, a bit shakily perhaps, and Alec slowly tugged on his arm, leading him towards the staircase. His lover willingly went with him, following him back upstairs where Jace was still talking, defending him, saying something about how Magnus was his best friend and had only done this because Jace had asked for his help.

"We didn't mean to hurt any of you while doing this," the blond man added quietly, "Don't blame Magnus - or Alec! They did nothing wrong. Magnus was honest with me and told me how he felt about Alec from the start - and we're not dating so it doesn't really matter anyway, right?"

"It doesn't," Alec confirmed as soon as his brother stopped talking, his voice firm and daring anyone to say otherwise.

Magnus felt himself become lighter, ecstatic with happiness at the expression painted over the soldier's face, each and every single one of features screaming _I want this man_ and even better, _I want this man whether you accept it or not_. Was this real? Was he really that lucky, lucky enough to get himself a man like Alec who was willing to fight for him like this?

Granted, it was just the beginning and it was going fast, too fast perhaps, but what were they risking? Disappointment? With all the hardships they were going through right now, Magnus would sure as hell do his best to never even taste a hint of bitter disappointment between Alec and him.

"It doesn't matter to me," the soldier repeated, before he glanced at his father and added, "So I hope my happiness with Magnus will matter to you more than what happened today and what we kept hidden from you."

"I never planned on hurting any of you," Magnus chimed in quietly, looking at Izzy, at Maryse, trying to meet their eyes and convey how distressed he felt for breaking the fragile balance of their family. "I'm sorry it turned out like this and I'm sorry we deceived you."

"Not your fault," Jace replied, ready to shoulder the full responsibility for his plan - which wasn't right, because they had been in this together, so when he noticed Magnus' pointed glare, he amended, "Well, not only your fault."

"It is mine too," Alec said, looking at his parents, his sister, his family's friends.

They were all silent then but Magnus was relieved to realise that this quietness wasn't as tense as before. It felt like a knot had been untied, understanding dawning on all of them - but understanding didn't mean acceptance and even if Alec acted tough and didn't seem to care about what his parents would think of his starting relationship with Magnus, the young man didn't want the soldier to be alienated by his family, should they decide that they didn't want to see him ever again.

"Where do we go from here?" Maryse eventually asked, looking at the three of them, one after the other.

Magnus felt Alec relax through their joined hands: although his mother wasn't saying that she was alright with all this, she didn't sound angry anymore, rather resigned and ready to face this new development. In what way, though?

"Well," the soldier answered slowly, glancing at Magnus with a smile, "We start over. Let me introduce you to my boyfriend, maybe? Mom, this is Magnus. Magnus, Maryse, my mom."

The older woman finally chuckled and even though her laughter sounded a bit nervous, Magnus let out a breath of relief, one he hadn't even realised he'd been holding in, and his sigh turned into a surprised gasp when Maryse stepped forward and carefully hugged him. He stopped breathing again.

"I liked you," she said once she'd stepped back, and the past tense scared Magnus a little, even though he didn't know what to think anymore since Maryse was still holding onto his shoulders. "Not because you were Jace's boyfriend, but because of you being you. I don't think being Alec's boyfriend is going to change that."

Magnus didn't answer, barely registering what had just happened, still processing the fact that his (very much real now, although Alec and he were nowhere close to married) mother-in-law had hugged him and not strangled him to death. But next to him, the soldier was grinning and it was enough to convince Magnus that yes, it had really happened. Holy crap.

Jace let out a giggle at his friend's face, relieved beyond words, but his laughter was cut short when his mother turned toward him and towered over him with a stern expression.

"Mom?" the blond man squeaked out.

"You and I need to have a long conversation but for now... Don't ever do something like this again," Maryse said.

"Of course not!" Jace exclaimed, tripping all over himself in his haste to reassure his mother that this was a one-time plan only.

"Good."

Content with his mother's reaction, Jace turned hopeful eyes towards his father, who was still glancing at Magnus and Alec warily. When his eyes locked with his son's, Robert scowled and shrugged, before he turned around and left without a word. Alec's shoulders sagged a little at that less than positive reaction but Magnus deemed them lucky that he hadn't made any rude comment like he had on their first day at the villa. The young man couldn't say that he was surprised by Robert's attitude though.

"Okayyyyy," Jace drawled, obviously hurt by his father's reaction, and he turned towards the others a bit defensively, "Someone else wants to say something?"

"Congratulations?" Luke suggested, looking at Alec and Magnus with a bright smile that was returned in kind.

Jocelyn and he looked relieved that the tension had finally vanished, even though Isabelle still hadn't said anything but at least, Maryse seemed to have accepted the fact that even if Alec had found his boyfriend in strange circumstances, it didn't mean that it wasn't real - this time - or that they weren't sincere with each other. So maybe they would be fine?

Eventually, Izzy reached for her big brother and pulled him in a tight hug - which was a bit funny to look at, since she was way shorter than Alec but still managed to squeeze all the oxygen out of him.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered when she let go of the soldier and glanced at Magnus, "I should have known... that you would never do something like this. I should have listened to you instead of yelling at you. I'm... I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Alec told her, drawing her right back into his arms, "You couldn't know. I did tell you it wasn't what it looked like, though."

He was clearly teasing her and Izzy let out a weird noise that sounded like something between a giggle and a sob.

"It kind of did," she managed to utter, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," the soldier answered, kissing the top of his sister's head. "You must have felt awful, thinking Magnus and I were doing this to Jace and you were the only one to know."

She nodded against Alec's chest but stayed silent. Eventually, she stepped back and turned to Magnus with the clear intent on apologising again, but the young man was faster than her.

"Sorry for the mental image," Magnus said with a shy smile.

She laughed at that and she went for a hug as well - holy crap, that made for too many surprise hugs in thirty minutes, he didn't know if he would survive this. But it was way better than being punched in the face or thrown out so really, Magnus couldn't complain - much. Instead, he smiled and took Alec's hand in his own again, now with the confident satisfaction of knowing that he could do this without any risky consequence.

"Okay," Jocelyn concluded, "Now that we're all on the same page, I think we all deserve a nice breakfast, don't we?"

"And coffee," Jace added weakly.

His desperate tone made Clary chuckle which, in turn, got Jace to grin and really, wasn't he ridiculous? Not that Magnus was one to judge, since he and Alec weren't much better.

"Let's put Max out of his misery first," Izzy suggested, before she gestured at Alec' and Magnus' joined hands, "You'll have some explaining to do."

"No," the soldier immediately said, "Magnus and I are covered in sand, we should shower first. Jace will have all the time to tell Max while we do that, right?"

Jace nodded frantically when he caught his brother's pointed gaze - was that payback? Alec's subtle way of getting Jace to understand that he still had to make up for keeping Magnus and he apart at the beginning? Alec had said that he would forgive his brother but he hadn't mentioned anything about _when_ , although Magnus suspected he already had but just enjoyed torturing Jace a little longer.

The blond man opened the door of their little brother's bedroom and earned himself a glare for all his trouble, as Max clearly wasn't happy about being kept in the dark, but his whole face lit up when Jace promised that he would explain everything at breakfast and he ran down the stairs - now _Jace_ didn't look happy. They all followed Max, except for Magnus and Alec who were dead set on having their shower before doing anything else, and Jace stayed in the hallway as well, for an obscure reason.

"You're not showering with us," Magnus warned him, realising too late that it implied Alec and he would shower together, which the soldier hadn't said anything about - oh well.

"Please," Jace scoffed, "Too many abs in the same place, I'd get really uncomfortable. No, I just... I was thinking..."

"Good God," Magnus whispered, already expecting one more disastrous idea - he wasn't wrong.

"I know I told mom I wouldn't do it again," the blond man explained, "But what if I asked Clary to fake-date me? So in the end she happily falls in love with me and..."

Magnus and Alec didn't even need to look at each other before they cried, at the same time and on the same scandalised tone:

"Absolutely not!"

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo... I hope you enjoyed your reading! Feel free to share your thoughts about this one and rendez-vous next week with the epilogue! Thank you for everything <3


	12. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! I can't believe this is already over, I've had the plot idea of this fic for one year or so and now, in three months, I managed to write it all. I hope you'll enjoy this last part, thank you so much for all your support and positive comments, and for keeping me motivated as well! Thank you <3

  


Magnus wasn't nervous. He had no reason to be nervous, right? None at all: the hardest part was done, he'd survived his years of university, aced all of his exams, and the jury had applauded his thesis so really, what could go wrong now, on his Graduation Day?

Well, everything. His gown could catch on the edge of his chair and rip at the seams. He could slip and fall in front of the Dean - oh, the humiliation. He could also miss his cue to stand up and walk across the stage or worse, what if they completely forgot to call his name? What if he wasn't even on the list, by some twisted decision of Fate?

How he wished Alec was there with him... A light touch of his hand against his own would have been enough to calm him down. But his fiancé was still somewhere across the ocean, in a place Magnus knew nothing about, to do something he knew nothing about either, and Alec wasn't due back for at least three more weeks.

At least Jace was there, although he couldn't see him in the crowd, but his best friend - whose Graduation ceremony had happened last week, the lucky bastard - had sneaked up on him while he was putting on his gown and had helped him fix the mortarboard on his head.

"How are you feeling?" he'd asked with a grin.

"Like I'm going to be sick," Magnus had answered truthfully. "Can we switch? You've done this already, you know the drill, so please? Spare me?"

"Nope," Jace had laughed, patting his shoulder like a grandma with her spoilt grandkid. "You did it, Magnus, you worked hard for this, so you deserve to be walking on that stage in your own name. Go get them, tiger!"

Right.

"I'm a tiger," Magnus mumbled to give himself some courage as the Dean started to call the students.

The girl sitting on his right glanced at him with a judgemental glimmer in her eyes. Oops. Magnus tried to focus on what was happening in front of him so that he wouldn't miss his cue like he feared, and he forced himself to relax his shoulders - Alec was so going to give him a massage once he came back.

Maybe thinking about that wasn't a good idea: the prospect of feeling Alec's strong but careful hands on his back - and then lower - was delightful but these gowns made it hard to hide some problems... So he thought about Jace, Jace who had flashed him an encouraging smile before leaving, telling him that he was going back to sit with his family - Izzy, Max, Maryse and Clary had come to support him too. Robert wasn't attending, not that Magnus had expected or wanted him to. Honestly, he hadn't seen much of the man for the past three months anyway, not since Maryse and he had decided to get a divorce - no one had been surprised about that, not even Max.

Clary and Jace, however, had finally started dating - which was long overdue, if you asked Magnus. It had taken them one year of learning each other again, of coming back to be the friends they once were, and then six more months of beating around the bush, going on dates that they didn't dare call dates, until Christmas had come around and they'd kissed under the mistletoe... That same Christmas Alec had knelt in front of Magnus and asked him to become his husband.

It had been their second Christmas together and Alec was only on a short leave, but they had made the most of it - as always. Alec had warned him from the start, he'd told him how hard it could be to date a soldier, especially a SEAL, but Magnus had never imagined how much he could miss his lover when he wasn't home. It was awful. Every time Alec came back though, he remembered why he was waiting, why it was all worth it.

In spite of the tears, the nightmares, the paranoia sometimes, the protectiveness in some situations, Magnus loved his Alec with his whole heart. Besides, it wasn't always bad. Some nights they could make love without Alec starting to cry in the middle of it, afraid to hurt Magnus. Some nights they cuddled, fell asleep like that, and when they woke up in the morning, they hadn't moved at all, their legs still tangled together. When Alec was there, they were just like any other couple, with ups and downs, but always holding hands to get back on the right path.

Alec was amazing, something Magnus would never tire of repeating to anyone who asked about his relationship with the soldier. No, it wasn't always easy: he had stopped counting the nights he'd spent crying on Alec's pillow and longing for his fiancé's embrace. He didn't know how many times Jace had turned off the TV and tucked him into bed at the beginning of his relationship with Alec, because Magnus kept watching every news report that had to do with attacks in areas where the soldier could be deployed, squinting and trying to catch sight of his lover in the background, behind some journalist - or praying that he wouldn't recognise Alec's gorgeous face among the wounded.

He'd stopped torturing himself with that by now. Besides, Alec managed to write to him or to call him from time to time, and then Magnus felt invigorated and ready to face the next weeks without his lover. Then there were new bruises to caress and trauma that he couldn't kiss away, no matter how much he wished he could...

But it didn't define their relationship, nor did it limit their happiness: every second spent together acted like a soothing balm on the scars of their separation and they didn't let the past weeks or months yearning for each other weigh on their present. They went out, travelled, discovered places that quickly became little havens for their love, visited museums, cried in front of romantic movies together, even though Alec had said more than once that he never shed tears for this kind of thing. Magnus begged to differ.

Once, the young man had gotten Alec to paint his toes while he did his hands, and seeing his lover's focused expression as he tried not to put nail polish all over Magnus' skin had been hilarious - however, his laughter had made his foot jerk in Alec's hand, so the nail polish had ended up everywhere but on his nails anyway. In turn, Alec had convinced Magnus to go skydiving. His heart still felt faint at the mere reminder of it but it had truly been a great experience, even though Magnus looked quite green on every picture they had taken right after this.

Most of all, Alec and Magnus made plans.

Which was why, on their first anniversary - that they had celebrated a few weeks late because Alec had been overseas at the time, although he'd called, what an angel - the soldier had gifted him something special.

A smiled curled up Magnus' lips as he remembered Alec fidgeting with the small package, hesitating to offer it just yet, then raising two panicked eyes towards his lover.

"This isn't a good idea," he had whispered, his hands shaking.

"What isn't?" Magnus had joked, although he'd felt apprehensive as hell because of Alec's own uncertainty. "Giving me a gift?"

"You deserve all the gifts in the world," the soldier had answered very seriously, and then he'd given in and handed the package to Magnus.

The young man had almost been scared to open it but once he'd worked up the courage to do so, a key had fallen into his open palm and his eyes had widened, unsure to understand... Because this key looked a lot like the key to Alec's apartment.

"You..." Magnus had started, choking on his words as he got emotional all of a sudden, "You want me to move in with you?"

"Yes," Alec had squeaked out. "Bad idea?"

"Uh... Why would it be?"

Hesitation had marred the soldier's face for a brief moment, until he gave a tentative, apologetic smile to his lover and answered:

"I'm... not often here. I don't want you to spend weeks all alone in this apartment, not if it reminds you that I'm away. Shit, I shouldn't have done this. This is such a bad idea, I'm sorry, Magnus. You don't deserve this, I'll..."

"Shut up," he'd growled, grabbing the collar of Alec's t-shirt to kiss him, before he elaborated, "Yes, I'll move in with you. You're not getting rid of me so easily."

"I wouldn't want that anyway," Alec had mumbled against his lips - and after that, they hadn't done much talking anymore.

The rest was history: Magnus had moved in, Alec had left, Magnus had been depressed and then his lover had come back. Momentarily. Obviously, it was hard. But living together was all he could have wished for - well, until Alec proposed - and feeling the soldier's presence through the apartment had helped a lot to bear his physical absence. The faint scent of his aftershave on the scarves in the wardrobe, the warmth of his pyjamas the morning after he'd just left, the dog ears in books, the endless post-its he hid before his departure so that Magnus would find them, day after day, while he was overseas...

_Thinking of you_ , on the bottle of milk. _I love you_ , creased and hidden inside a random pair of socks. _Don't eat all the ice-cream_ , inside the freezer, and Magnus had chuckled while reading it - he'd almost choked on his laughter the following month though, when he'd found out the _I told you not to_ stuck to the last tub of ice-cream.

Magnus snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the student on his left stand up - Banako was his last name, or something like that, and he knew it would be his turn soon enough. Oh shit. Okay, okay, _breathe, Magnus_.

When he was called, the young man rose to his feet as elegantly as he could, in spite of feeling like he was sweating buckets underneath his gown. He went to the stage while the audience applauded and then... It was disappointingly fast and uneventful. Fine, he was shaking the whole time the Dean held his hand for the photographer who had been hired for the day and then he hurried back to his seat, fearing to be sick for real this time, and after a few hundreds more students, it was all over. More speeches were made, a group picture, before they were all chucking their mortarboards in the air as high as they could, and laughter and whoops echoed all around.

Magnus watched as parents invaded the stage to find their grown-up kids and snap more pictures, a smile on his face. Back to the time he'd first stepped onto the campus, imagining himself on his Graduation Day would not have made him smile, at all: back then, he thought he would be alone, shake the Dean's hand before quietly leaving while families rejoiced.

On this day though, he knew that people were there for him and even though they weren't family by blood, they were by choice. Speaking of them, Magnus should try to find Jace and ask him to take a few more pictures so that he could show them to Alec the next time he would be home... His only regret was that he wouldn't have one with his fiancé himself.

"Magnus!" he heard someone yell behind him.

He turned just in time to catch Izzy in his arms as she literally jumped on him, hugging him tight - and he should have grown used to it by now but instead, he gasped and had to tap her arm so that she would let go of him.

"Congratulations!" she exclaimed once she was back with her two feet on the ground, "You did it!"

"Yeah," he said in a breath, only now realising what it meant for that part of his life, "It's over..."

"But plenty of new things are coming your way!" Jace shot back, popping out of nowhere and sporting a huge smile on his face, "Aren't you happy?"

"I am," he confirmed, although his own grin faltered a little. "I just wish Alec was here with us."

The siblings shared a meaningful glance that Magnus couldn't decipher and Jace cleared his throat with an air of self-importance.

"Now that you mention him..." he started - but he never managed to finish his sentence, because the crowd cleared a little behind him and then, Magnus felt like he was breathing for the first time in his life.

Walking at a slow pace, looking tough and handsome in his uniform, lips parted in a bright smile, Alec was coming toward him. Magnus blinked, once, twice, and he felt dangerously close to tears, incomprehension then relief and joy mixing together to mess with his emotions as he took in the sight of his fiancé, his warm eyes and his unruly hair that even the military regulations didn't manage to tame, and his... right arm in a sling?

Magnus nearly pushed his best friend out of the way so that he could get to Alec faster, his eyes wide open as he glanced from his injured arm to the rest of his body, checking for more wounds, until he could gently, carefully hug his lover. He didn't say anything, crying as he was against Alec's neck, but he didn't need words anyway.

"Surprise," he heard the soldier chuckle, close to his ear.

The young man nearly melted right there when Alec put his good arm around him and he breathed in his fiancé's scent, falling into this familiar embrace that he had missed so much. And then he stepped back and stared, horrified, at Alec's arm. What was it? Broken bone? Bullet wound? Shrapnel wound? Whatever it was, it was the reason why the soldier was back early and Magnus didn't know how he should feel about it.

How long was he staying this time? Was it bad? What if it got infected, how far could it spread? What had happened to him, to his Unit, to his friends that Magnus knew a little, through mentions in letters and emails? What if Alec felt guilty for what had happened, what if he couldn't...

"It's okay," Alec told him before the young man could think of a proper, coherent question to ask. "It's not too bad. Relax, love."

Magnus sagged against him again, the soft nickname turning him weak with comfort. It wouldn't keep him from enquiring about Alec's health, though.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You know I can't tell you..."

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood," Magnus growled, "What. Happened?"

He wanted - needed - to know. He wasn't asking what he had been doing at the time, where he'd been fighting, no, Magnus wasn't interested in any of these strategic details. All that mattered was Alec and how he fared.

"I fell," the soldier finally said.

"You... fell?" Magnus repeated, slowly, trying to understand where the catch was - it couldn't be a normal stumble in the stairs now, could it?

"From a roof," Alec reluctantly added, "But it wasn't that ba..."

"You fell from a roof?!" Magnus exclaimed, drawing several people's attention to them, "You fell from a freaking roof and it isn't that bad?! How are you even alive?"

"I got lucky... My men and I were on top of an abandoned farm and when the guys on the other side blew up the roof, I fell into old straw bales."

"They blew up the..." Magnus started, before he abruptly shut up and fresh tears spilled.

He realised that Alec could have died in the explosion and if he'd only earned a broken arm after all this, then he had gotten away lightly. Still, Magnus wouldn't be surprised if he found burns all over his lover's body that night, no matter how adamant his fiancé was that he wasn't too badly hurt. The young man didn't want to think about it anymore though, he couldn't bear it. Alec was there and nothing else mattered.

"I love you," Magnus whispered before kissing him, barely aware that Jace was taking their picture a few steps away from them.

He took the time to enjoy this kiss, the first one in... far too long, and he smiled against Alec's lips as he noticed its salty taste, like these kisses they had shared on a beautiful night at the beach, nearly two years prior. Magnus then closed his eyes and allowed himself to cuddle up to Alec, still mindful of his injury as he wrapped his own arms around the soldier again. He let out a shaky breath when his fiancé pressed a soft kiss to his forehead and then, relaxing into Magnus' hug, Alec quietly murmured:

"I'm home."

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! I'm sad to wrap-up this story but I'm glad I'll be able to write other AU's quite soon... Again, thank you so much for reading this story and sticking with me until the end of the ride, thank you for every kudo, comment, bookmark and subscription! <3


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